ASHEVILLE - A quarter-mile boardwalk traverses the wetland of the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary in North Asheville. The eight-acre nature preserve was created in the 1980s to protect against commercial development, an oasis tucked beside busy Merrimon Avenue.

Come June, Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter President John Koon said visitors can expect a wide variety of birds, from nesting green herons and tree swallows, to pileated woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice and song sparrows.

Blue Ridge Audubon manages the sanctuary, which is free and open to the public daily — among a host of no-cost activities, programs and places to visit in Asheville and Buncombe County.

"Any time of year, it's a great natural habitat. It's right there in the middle of the city," Koon told the Citizen Times. "You can hear

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