A CAREER DOCUMENTING WILDLIFE has taken Morgan Heim to exotic far-flung destinations, including the Himalayas, Thailand and Colombia. But when the pandemic forced the journalist and photographer to stay close to home this year, Heim discovered a fascinating world of wildlife bustled just outside her back door in Astoria, Ore.
Heim has identified more than 40 species of birds using her yard, a hilltop plot where the land transitions between forest and suburban development that is near water. She’s grown so familiar with certain recurring visitors that she’s named them. “I don’t think I realized how truly oblivious I was to the nature right around me, until now,” Heim says.
Here are photos of a handful of the birds and mammals Heim spotted and descriptions of them in her own words.