It had already been a sanctuary for the birds. I bought a longer lens for my camera and often planned to paddle out to the island in the middle of the river to see what I could capture. With the gift of more time, I spent many sunrises and sunsets on the river when animals are most active. Before the pandemic, I appreciated the river for its recreational opportunities, but I had never really seen it as a home for so much wildlife, especially birds. Photo: Emily Critcher, Catawba River, Mount Holly, NCīehind the Shot: I’m lucky because I live next to a river. Thank you to everyone who submitted, and we hope you enjoy this selection of some of our favorites. - Lia Bocchiaro, Photo Editor We were especially moved and inspired to see people share their passion and appreciation for backyard birds that are so often overlooked. Narrowing down a pool of more than 8,000 photos to just 50 wasn’t an easy task there were so many beautiful images with so much personality, encompassing an amazing range of species, habitats, and behaviors. (You can find their galleries in the menu above.) We then invited readers to share their own photos, and submissions came pouring in.
For our Bird from Home project, Audubon asked three professional wildlife photographers to document and write about birds in their yards or in their communities during this difficult year. Cooped up in my one-room apartment in Brooklyn, I watched for the occasional pigeon on my fire escape and walked down to the water every night to see cormorants fish. Six months ago, when many of us put our lives on hold to isolate at home, enjoying nature in whatever way we could was a comfort and a distraction.