Photos, videos and docs of Gavin Johnson, with the keywords: "wildlife"

White pigeon

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 26 May 2026 07:03:31 +0000

I think this is a pure white pigeon, as the lcal doves are rather smaller. It was kind enough to pose for me while I was out taking photographs for our local Parish website.

Welcome to the world

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sat, 16 May 2026 06:20:14 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

Birds seem to have started nesting earlier this year, and we've already seen broods of Great Tits, Sparrows and Starlings, but no young Blue Tits this year so far.

This is one of my favourite bird shots from a couple of years ago, when we had a couple of fledglings using the garden as a nursery.

Excuse me, sir, but could you spare a peanut?

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 05 May 2026 06:48:08 +0000

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Another cute one (I think) from our wildlife outing... a squirrel looking on as we were feeding the ducks.

He came up for some (unsalted) peanuts after posing like this. An extreme closeup in the PiP.

A squirrel-eye selfie

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 05 May 2026 06:48:09 +0000

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It's a shot I've taken before, but with the squirrels coming so close, I tried again.

This is a heavy crop, of course, but the reflection is good, and my wife and I are clearly visible.

Right-angle squirrel

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sun, 03 May 2026 06:30:34 +0000

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Another bit of cuteness from the Cheltenham visit. The squirrels are used to humans and the occasional snack they share, but this one spotted a dog in the distance and froze, before scampering up the tree trunk to safety.

Grey Heron flypast

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sat, 02 May 2026 15:01:09 +0000

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Another shot from Gloucester University's Cheltenham campus. The resident heron was disturbed and flew by on its way to a new perch.

Greylag gosling closeup

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Fri, 01 May 2026 12:58:48 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

I couldn't resist adding a couple more of yesterday's cuteness overload...

Greylag goslings

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Fri, 01 May 2026 12:58:47 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

I couldn't resist adding a couple more of yesterday's cuteness overload...

Greylag gosling

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Fri, 01 May 2026 07:58:49 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

I set a new personal record yesterday. It was a sunny afternoon, so we went to the grounds of Gloucester University in Cheltenham where there is plenty of wildlife that is reasonably habituated to humans.

I set the camera up in fast burst mode with precapture, to make sure I didn't miss any action. After a couple of hours, I came home with 5800 images! It'll take hours to go through and delete most of them, but as you can see, some of the wildlife was extremely photogenic!

Update - I added another couple in PiPs.

Birds in flight

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 07:24:20 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

We've had some sunny days this week, so I spent a while in my back garden trying to improve my technique at photographing birds in flight.

I'm finding capturing small birds in sharp focus really tricky, but thanks to the camera's high speed burst mode, I've managed to get a few crisp ones, and I've made a collage of four of them here (male and female House Sparrows and a Great Tit).

A regular garden visitor

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:25:11 +0000

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I enjoy feeding the garden birds and thi is one of my regulars. We have a few feral pigeons that visit, but this one has noticed that I'm more generous with handouts than my wife.

If I'm out in the garden, he'll fly down expectantly, and if I don't immediately reach for the peanuts he'll make a point of flapping around at head height to make sure I've noticed him.

Here he is in his natural habitat... filling his crop with free food!

Hummingbird and flowers

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 06:32:07 +0000

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A shot from a trip to Costa Rica quite a while ago. At an eco-lodge in the cloud forest, the owners planted a flower garden to attract the local hummingbirds.

It was a marvellous place to visit, but I really want to go back with my current generation of camera equipment and get some better photographs of these beauties!

Bluebell closeup

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:25:10 +0000

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An experiment with macro focus-stacking in the camera. This one turned out pretty well, but the slightest breeze is enough to make the stacked result blurry.

Our local woodland is a blue wash of native bluebells at this time of year. A lot of gardens have the Spanish bluebells in bloom (larger, more upright flowers) and the woodland edge has a mixture of both varieties, and their hybrids.

Pigeon Courtship

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:29:55 +0000

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A photo from about this time last year. I was testing out my big telephoto lens in the back garden and noticed this pair of pigeons showing courtship behaviour.

I noticed that the female bird on the right had leg rings, suggesting she was a lost / escaped racing bird.

Over a sequence of photos I was able to read the letters and numbers on the rings (it's a very good lens!) and contact the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, who gave me her owner's phone number.

He was sorry to hear that his bird wasn't coming back to her loft in Bristol - about 60km away - but pleased that she had found a mate and settled down!

Black Headed Gulls mating

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:15:54 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

It's breeding season for Black Headed Gulls, and I captured this image at WWT Slimbridge.

As the birds themselves are pretty much monochrome, I thought the photo would suit a black and white treatment. I used the NIK tools to tweak the contrast and add a bit of simulated grain.

Perhaps I should have given the gulls some privacy... :-)

Mallard mother and three early ducklings

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:43:11 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

Spring is approaching fast, and at WWT Slimbridge yesterday we saw the first ducklings of the season. I'm not sure I've ever seen them out and about this early before.

Mallard ducklings close up

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:43:13 +0000

Gavin Johnson has posted:

Spring is approaching fast, and at WWT Slimbridge yesterday we saw the first ducklings of the season. I'm not sure I've ever seen them out and about this early before.

Snowdrop shadows

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 10:18:47 +0000

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We had a day without rain for the first time in a long while, so I was able to get out and admire some of the wild (or at least self-seeded) Snowdrops in the area.

I haven't figured out how to get these to display as a 'picture in picture' group like some people do.

Snowdrops

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 10:18:45 +0000

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Sunny Snowdrop

nobody@ipernity.com (Gavin Johnson) — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 10:18:44 +0000

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