Wildlife photography - Purplebear's Photography

Leucistic American Robin photo

Here’s a Leucistic American Robin photo we took fairly recently. It’s possible you may have seen one of these birds, but it was a first for us at the time. I definitely am not a bird or genetics expert, but according to a variety of online sources, leucism describes defects in pigment cells caused during a bird’s development, which prevents pigments from reaching some or sometimes all of a bird’s feathers. The degree of leucism varies with a bird’s genetic makeup. The skin and eyes remain their normal pigment and color. You will see white splotches on its head or back.

We also have a photo of a Canadian goose that appears to be leucistic. We saw both of these at separate times while on our photo walks at a local wildlife refuge.

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American Bittern Photo

This American Bittern photo was taken at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge. This is the first photo we’ve taken of an American Bittern and also the first we’ve ever seen. We learned to get a photo of this particular bird is not an easy thing to do. They could be standing right in front of you and you might not see them.

They are a species of wading bird in the heron family. They’re well camouflaged and blend in with their surroundings. As you can see from the photo, when you first see an American Bittern, what stands out immediately is its thick neck and long, pointed bill.

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Nature calendars, a great Christmas gift idea

Nature calendars are a great Christmas gift idea. Here is our collection of nature calendars made from our photographs. We have calendars of birds, butterflies, deer, ducks, flowers, hummingbirds and rabbits. Our Zazzle store, Purplebearspics has many other products created from our photographs that would also make great Christmas gifts.

Nature Calendars

by Purplebearspics

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Belted Kingfisher photo

After many attempts, we finally have a half decent Belted Kingfisher photo. This Kingfisher was perched on an old concrete pier overlooking a marshy area of the wildlife refuge we visit often.

Belted Kingfishers, from what we have noticed, are one of the few birds where the female is more colorful than the male. We couldn’t get a good look at the front of this one to see if it was a male or female. Another thing we’ve noticed about these birds is that, for such a small bird, they have a pretty big wingspan. That kind of surprises you when they take off.

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