Gavin Johnson's photos

Some young Long-Tailed Tits occasionally pop in to eat some of the blackfly on our beans (which is nice of them). They're always on the move, but I managed to catch this one making his contact call to keep in touch with the rest of the clan.

HWW! The walls under Stroud's viaducts are a favourite spot for graffiti, a mixture of street art, political protest, and terratorial tagging. This wall struck me as slightly interesting, as the moss growing on the mortar is gradually growing over the paint, which is flaking off in places to reveal prior layers of art.

The caterpillars have been munching through the sacrificial nasturtiums we planted for them, and have mostly left everything else alone. The butterflies are usually very skittish, but this one tolerated me poking my macro lens in its face for a while before flying off.

HWW. I hope this counts as a Wednesday Wall. This is a view up the hill of the main street in the Cotswold market town of Winchcombe. I liked the way that the houses are all terraced together but seem to be in an odd mix of sizes, styles and building materials.

Halfway up a hill near us is a house who's owner has a sense of fun. As well as a garden with a huge golden egg and brightly dressed scarecrows in the vegetable patch, he has made a creative sign for his house name. As you walk towards the house, the random jumble of letters arrange themselves to read "Oakwood House" if you stand in the right place.

HBM - This bench is on the main street in the small Cotswold market town of Winchcombe, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon era. The town still has many buildings and features dating back to medieval times, and more recently, in 2021 it was the site of a meteorite strike of worldwide astronomical interest. As a bonus, the wall behind the bench has a 'ghost door', that used to lead to the grounds of Winchcombe Abbey. The sign on the wall reads "Abbey Terrace, known by locals as the High Walk, was created in 1835. The main gate and grounds of Winchcombe Abbey stood northwards from here."

I thought photographing birds in flight was difficult, until I tried going after dragonflies! I was pleased with this one, though. Top to bottom: A male rather ragged Emperor Dragonfly defending his patch; a Brown Darter; and a second, fresher looking Emperor a little upstream. Worth zooming is a bit to see the detail. My wife was very patient waiting for me to get my shots, and helped explain what I was doing to passers-by on the canal who saw me pointing the camera at random, apparently empty spaces!

There's still no sign of rain, so we have the daily chore of watering the garden (the summer's water bill will be high!) but the daily harvest makes it worthwhile. It's so nice to have tomatoes that actually taste of tomato, unlike the ones from the supermarket!

I didn't see any nice walls this week, but I did manage to get a few shots of a Hummingbird Hawkmoth dining on a Buddleia flower.

HBM! We haven't walked this way in a couple of months, and this bench is a new and welcome addition to the landscape. It's a nice spot to rest after hiking over a hill. We haven't had any significant rain in a couple of months, so the countryside is looking increasingly dry and brown.

Another old image that I've tweaked and reprocessed - a grasshopper enjoying a garden plant.

HWW - at the far end of the monks' walled garden at Prinknash Abbey there is a small, stiff door. Opening it leads to a rather charming woodland walk up the hill to a small shrine (PiP 1) and the monastery graveyard (PiP 2).

I've not felt much like taking the camera out while it's been really hot, but I've spent some time going back over really old images that I didn't think much of at the time and re-editing with today's tools. Now, I quite like this one of a fire dance taken at a Pacific Islands cultural display in Hawaii 20 years ago (where has the time gone?!)

Once in a while I try something a little different - I rather liked the sweeping curve of the railway tracks here.

For those of us still enjoying this heatwave, here's an idea we saw in Perth, Australia a few years back. A group of kids were sliding down the hillside on solid blocks of ice, with a steering rope frozen into them. It looks like a lot of fun, and probably quite refreshing!

HFF! It's going to be another heatwave day here, so I opened all the windows to get the early morning breeze. Unfortunately the local farmer has chosen today to fertilise his fields, so now the house smells of hot manure :-( Anyway, here's a pastoral scene from a cooler, sweeter smelling day. Have a great weekend everyone!

HWW! Spotted in Cheltenham yesterday after buying an unhealthy amount of delicious treats at our favourite delicatessen, some new street art featuring roses.

Not the most artistic photo I've taken (though I quite like the reflection). This is a female Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) laying eggs in a large pond. The Emperor is the largest dragonfly in Europe, but while laying, she was frequently "buzzed" by Azure Damselflies (upper left). I'm not sure if they were bravely defending their territory, or looking to eat the Emperor's eggs.