View allAll Photos Tagged Freezing-Temperatures

Early morning light on the iconic Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. But you have to work for this one. Up at 4 am to secure a spot at this wildly popular site, standing in the dark for hours in freezing temperatures preparing for sunrise. But then the magical light starts to appear, and it's suddenly worth every discomfort!

I love crab spiders. They are everywhere if you just stop to take a closer look.

 

Northern crab spiders overwinter in Pennsylvania, but not as active adults. They survive by overwintering as egg sacs or juvenile spiders, which stay dormant in sheltered areas until the spring.

 

Most adult crab spiders die after mating and laying their egg sacs in the fall, so they do not survive the winter as active adults.

 

The female lays an egg sac that is designed to withstand freezing temperatures, with the spiderlings hatching in the spring.

 

Immature crab spiders will also overwinter by finding sheltered spots to hide, where they enter a dormant state called diapause, which slows their metabolism to conserve energy.

 

Backyard, Pennsylvania, August 16, 2025, IMGP3052

 

(This photo was taken a month before my Explore photo of a different crab spider on a Black-eyed Susan.)

The sub-freezing temperature made for a beautiful layer of mist sitting in Moraine Park Meadow.

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***Canon 5D Mark II - EF 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM. © 2017.***

Lázaro Antônio dos Santos - "monsieurlazarophotographies".

 

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Photos are copyrighted. All rights reserved. Pictures can not be used without explicit permission by the creator.

 

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Varg is lifting his nose in the air, was that a hint of milder weather? His biggest fear is that spring shall come early, ruining this wonderful cold winter full of snow.

 

So far he don't have to worry, we have had freezing temperatures since mid October, and with the last days snow we have enough to last two summers!

 

This posting will just be a few photos from yesterday and today. Yesterday we had again some snow, last night we had a lot.

 

There are a few more (not very good I admit) photos rom the last two days. And a couple of jokes of course.

CN L562 approaches Beechwood Road in Niagara Falls with CN ET44AC #3197 and ex-CREX ES44AC #3945 in freezing temperatures, though the gorgeous sunset and golden lighting made up for it.

Running water can withstand freezing temperatures without freezing, but ice crystals build up on the surface and along the banks.

After two days of snow and freezing temperatures there is a good coating down to 400m (approx). This is the communications mast on Sgurr a'Chaorachain and the wind was fierce when I took this. There is a good deal of rime on the mast and you can also see some spindrift. However, the road was totally clear and dry and was a pleasure to drive over (no NC500 people)! (Says she, ducking...)

 

The report is specifically for FreeHeel and Sven or anyone else who is planning winter activities on the west coast.

Well what can I say The Short Eared Owl WHAT A BIRD.Yesterday I spent 7hrs in near freezing temperatures, a very cheeky wind,constantly changing light, endless inconsiderate dog walkers marching all over the habitat on the Dee Estuary to get my first ever glimpse of the stunning Shortie, never mind photograph it. When they eventually turned up they did not disappoint. The light had gone but I’m chuffed with the images I got made the wait and the numb feet worth it

 

Canon 7D mk2 Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM Contemporary

Heading outside in below freezing temperatures allows me to find new delights. This covering of ice looked similar to a reptile's skin. I didn't even mind having frozen fingers while taking pictures.

This is actually the same Turner Falls I visited a week earlier -- this time shot from above after days of freezing temperatures and another week of color progress. Notice the icicles that have become part of the falls down below. The summer is busy with swimmers in the spring-fed waters, but not so busy when the water freezes.

We've been away over the past six weeks and drove 11,368 km through Northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and as far as we could go on British Columbia's Vancouver Island, to Port Renfrew. Along the way we had freezing temperatures, balmy summer heat, driving rain, and in Jasper, a snowstorm. We were lucky to have missed a tornado, a grizzly bear being chased by two parks officials with paint guns, golf ball size hail, forest fires, and back in Northern Ontario, inhaled enough forest fire smoke to make us (and the inside of the car) smell like a campfire. Canada is a big country and it makes sense that you run into all kinds of weather and have to allow for it. We hadn't anticipated running into a deer that popped out of the bushes right in front of us - the only thing hurt on the deer was pride but we had a broken grill on the car. Sadly, on the way back, a large buck was killed by a truck right in front of us in nearly the same area.

 

It was an amazing trip that should have happened right around when the pandemic started and I came back with 3588 images that will keep me busy for a while. Catching up on Flickr will take me a while. This image was of the Fisgard lighthouse, built in 1860 and still marks the harbor of the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific fleet. We had noticed earlier that lights were arranged to light up the tower and as we waited for blue hour, a cruise liner drifted slowly by. It looked like a floating city.

Named "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. Its feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks. Its feet also have fur on the soles to protect it from freezing temperatures.

 

For camouflage, its fur turns white during the winter and rusty brown during the summer. Its flanks are white year-round. The snowshoe hare is also distinguishable by the black tufts of fur on the edge of its ears. Its ears are shorter than those of most other hares.

 

In summer, it feeds on plants such as grass, ferns, and leaves. It is mainly active at night and does not hibernate.

 

This one is shedding its white winter coat for its summer brown coat.

 

Shirley's Bay, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. May 2017.

With a current air temperature of -1 degree Fahrenheit, I'm really hoping that Freddy has found some shelter. At least more shelter than the concrete walls of the underpass can provide. While it may keep out most of the snow (which we don't have at the moment) and it blocks the wind (if is going East to West), it retains every last bit of the freezing temperatures in the walls. It's probably the equivalent of trying to sleep in the slide out drawers that are used in the morgue. Just with less protection from the elements.

For St. Patrick's Day, a Bleeding heart against its green foliage. While not the first spring blossoms, they do have a way of standing out, even with freezing temperatures slated for tonight.

 

They are not native but nonetheless quite pretty: "Lamprocapnos spectabilis, bleeding heart or Asian bleeding-heart, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the fumitory subfamily of the poppy family Papaveraceae, and is native to Siberia, northern China, Korea, and Japan," from Wikipedia.

Seen from my living room today in Toronto.

 

Thanks for visiting, enjoy each day.

A neighbour of mine gave me these very small and what he thought were Autumn flowering violas they have sat in a pot all through the rain and snow and freezing temperatures that we have been having, And this morning I noticed a couple had bloomed. sad because Brian who gave them to me passed away last Friday,

 

Thanks for all visits comments etc it is appreciated

The freezing temperatures along with the geysers in Yellowstone made for a surreal landscape at times.

It looks like this male Anna's hummingbird is trying to catch a snowflake on its tongue. It still amazes me that these little birds are now able to live here year-round. The past few days of snow and freezing temperatures must have been tough for them, but they are obviously quite hardy!

Despite what the BBC online weather forecast has said, that we were to be basking in glorious sunshine for the last two days to accompany the freezing temperatures, that has proved not to be the case. It's been cloudy and even foggy until this afternoon when the sun finally made an appearance.

After the freezing temperatures of Tarn Hows last week, today was a welcome respite from the cold, with a temp of around 10 degrees.

 

It was a beautifully mild day with stunning scenery and I would highly recommend a visit. We didn't have anywhere near enough time here and I'm already looking forward to a return journey.

a strange mixure of buildingstyles, that make it to a very attractive otherworldy castle. Espasially with te half-timbered house style. And who looks closely, there is somebody about to get asked to marry her. Very romatic in freezing temperature.

 

1:52 Joy .... is sunshine on your face, board in hand, surf ahead, salt on your skin and sand between your toes (and in your togs.)

  

Just a side note: Whilst those of you in the Northern Hemisphere are shivering under freezing temperatures, Downunder is sweltering in extremely high summer temps. Not so bad here on the Gold Coast with temps around the 30C mark, but driving home from the beach today after taking this picture, I heard that the temperature in the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground - where the Ashes test is being played - had reach 53.6C with some unconfirmed report of 57C being recorded. The hottest I've ever experienced was 47C - I cannot concieve what it must be like to be playing cricket in those sorts of temps!!! And the poor poms (English) are getting whipped into the bargain.

Re-post!

 

Apparently Winter weather is heading into the UK next week.......I wonder if it will be as cold as this?!!

 

Yes....amazingly, this isn't snow, it's FROST!!!!

These trees are on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, UK, after a few nights of frost that haven't melted during the days due to the freezing temperatures!

 

Taken December 2010

 

:-)

I was curious to see how the milkweed would look in snow and ice at dusk.

From budding to seeding, a poetic view of the life cycle of the milkweed.

Please see in context of the album, to which I will slowly add more photos.

www.flickr.com/photos/wbhmatthies/albums/72157710414616907

 

Thanks for your views and comments are greatly appreciated too!

:) WM

This is a time lapse frame from my video "Magical Norway" vimeo.com/240977816

 

A dream came true when I spent the night above 2000 meters to capture the Milky Way over Norway’s highest mountain Galdhøpiggen 2469 m. At such high alltude, I felt fairly exposed for rapid weather changes, so I had to really step out of my comfort sone and overcome a bit of fear and withstand freezing temperatures for several hours to capture this sequence. I had a hypothesis that the higher you go and the colder it gets, the Milky Way would appear much brighter and clearer. I found this to be true, I’ve never seen the Milky Way like this before. This night is definetely a memory that will stay in my mind forever.

I worked in the Arctic region of Alaska for twelve years, two back in 2001 and 2002, then from 2011 t0 2021.

Back in 2012, there was a herd of Musk Ox that were grazing near where I worked. It was a nursery for the young calves being born.

I was fortunate enough to see this wild Musk Ox calf born, unfortunately, the calf came out before I had my camera ready. In this photo, the calf is less than 5 minutes old. It stood on its wobbly legs for a few moments, then plopped down and gave this pathetic look.

I can only imagine the shock this newborn calf is going through. One minute, it is safe and warm in the mother's womb and in an instant, it's in freezing temperatures with wind and snow blowing. That night, 4 inches of fresh snow fell. The next day, I got to see this cow sleeping with her calf laying on her legs.

Well what can I say The Short Eared Owl WHAT A BIRD.Yesterday I spent 7hrs in near freezing temperatures, a very cheeky wind,constantly changing light, endless inconsiderate dog walkers marching all over the habitat on the Dee Estuary to get my first ever glimpse of the stunning Shortie, never mind photograph it. When they eventually turned up they did not disappoint. The light had gone but I’m chuffed with the images I got made the wait and the numb feet worth it

 

Canon 7D mk2 Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM Contemporary

Winter can be tough on little birds like robins. With the Met Office warning of below freezing temperatures this week, wildlife experts are urging households to support the beautiful red-breasted birds

About to cast a shadow over the Towyn Beach Fun-Fair (already in metaphorical shade after another season came to an end) is Arriva Trains Wales 7.15am Holyhead - Crewe service (1K31), in the hands of a two-car Coradia class 175 no. 175002.

 

Hard to beat this time of year for low sun and great light, even it occasionally means freezing temperatures and the need for winter thermals. The local residents are probably quite happy too - they at last have the place to themselves.

 

8th November 2017

Although the American Goldfinches are no longer sporting their brilliant summer colors, their Fall plumage is still quite attractive.

 

There has not been much Goldfinch activity at the feeders lately until today when I woke up this morning and saw the feeders teeming with Goldfinches. They already knew we were getting ready to have a touch of early winter weather and were fueling up in preparation of the freezing over night temperatures in our area.

 

Granted it's not the snow and freezing temperatures most of our nation is experiencing right now, but try to tell the birds that.

Until today, I had never seen an Anna's north of Arizona. I've been putting out feeders since 1986, and we've never had a confirmed sighting. But now, after the first 3-inch snowfall and below-freezing temperatures, we have an Anna's five miles away, almost three months after all the other hummers had gone. Only she knows why she's still here.

 

A concerned birder has put out a feeder for her, but on the verge of winter we know the outcome cannot be a happy one for this poor little lady.

Standing in a Winter wonderland, amidst the icy breeze that tickles my nose hairs, I find myself embracing the crisp north pole air.

 

Oh, how I yearn to snuggle up with a reindeer and share warm fuzzies, but alas, the freezing temperatures might just give me a sneezing cough that rivals the mighty thunder of a thousand klaxons!

 

And if that's not enough, I can already envision my once ordinary nose transforming into a dazzling red beacon, shining brighter than Rudolph's, Santa's trusted companion.

 

I can see it now - me, trotting alongside Santa's sleigh with my red nose leading the way, lighting up the night sky like a disco ball on steroids! But hey, who needs a glowing nose when you've got the best seat in the house, right beside the man in the red suit?

 

Plus, let's be honest, reindeer snuggles are overrated anyway. I'll just stick to my cozy mittens and hot cocoa, thank you very much!

The smallest of all coppers in the United States. Tiny indeed with a wingspan of less than an inch.

 

The Bog Copper is an obligate inhabitant of high elevation acidic bogs with wild cranberries.

 

In Maryland it occurs only in Garrett County and is considered highly state rare and threatened (S1) species.

 

The butterfly is univoltine (one brood) and overwinters as an egg that can survive freezing temperatures, ice and periodic water inundation. In spring the larvae feed on cranberry leaves and when adults emerge the cranberry blooms serve as a source of nectar.

 

See following shots of the host plant and also the habitat.

Took this last weekend, when I took a trip up to Glencoe, which is roughly an hour and a half away from my home. I left my house about 10 o'clock. When we got there it was pitch black, and the weather was TERRIBLE! It was freezing temperatures and if that wasn't bad enough the winds must have been hitting around 50mph so I literately spent 5mins setting this up and fired off 2 shots hoping for the best and got back in the car! My fingers were stinging like mad thought it was a waist of time until I got home and turns out I really like the way it turned out!

 

Taken on the same night as:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/68848372@N02/8448761611/in/photostream

 

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A KCS gasoline train from the Port of Houston rolls past Mulberry Park on the west side of H-town on a cool winter evening (in the 50's). Pretty warm compared to the sub-freezing temperatures the area experienced for most of the week prior.

 

Of note are the two buffer cars, the first still wearing Gateway Western lettering and the second the logo for TFM.

 

KCS Gas Train

KCSM SD70ACe #4088

(DPU) KCS ES44AC #4783

 

Bellaire, TX

February 20th, 2021

At least I think that's what it is. This pretty tree was planted by my Father in Law about twenty-five years ago and looks stunning when covered in it's beautiful blossom. I took my camera along last weekend when we visited my Mother in Law in the hope of getting more shots this year but the blossom is still tightly in bud. Hardly surprising when we're experiencing snow, hail and freezing temperatures.

 

I know we Brits are always talking about the weather ;)

American Wigeon (Anas americana) AMWI

 

Northeastern Florida today surprisingly feels a lot like where we were one year ago around this time......NYC and Cape May, NJ. I expected freezing temperatures there......but no so much here at home. So in honor of our winter weather I decided to finally try to "wade" through my NYC folders to figure out what ducks we saw there and will happily accept corrections. This Wigeon was in Central Park. Hope you stay warm where ever you are!

 

Explore #234 January 2, 2018

I love Monarchs.. It never ceases to amaze me how they make that long journey to Mexico with those frail wings.. No GPS no road maps... No one can tell me there is no God!

 

Monarchs have specialized body parts to help it navigate and migrate long distances. They orient themselves both in longitude and latitude, a unique ability, and can travel up to a mile high.

 

To conserve energy, Monarchs ride along prevailing winds and catch rising thermal waves, helping them travel great distances in a single day. They hide from the rain and will die if exposed to freezing temperatures and ice storms. Cold and moisture are deadly to the fragile butterflies and can result in hundreds of millions dying at once. Surprisingly, when the Monarchs arrive in the Mexican Sanctuaries, they are heavier and fatter than they were when they began their journey. They are able to store their lipids during their journey, so they can have fat stores while in Mexico.

 

The most intriguing mystery still remains – how do the Monarchs know to go to these particular mountaintops amongst thousands?

The smallest of all coppers in the United States. Tiny indeed with a wingspan of less than an inch.

 

The Bog Copper is an obligate inhabitant of high elevation acidic bogs with wild cranberries.

 

In Maryland it occurs only in Garrett County and is considered highly state rare and threatened (S1) species.

 

The butterfly is univoltine (one brood) and overwinters as an egg that can survive freezing temperatures, ice and periodic water inundation. In spring the larvae feed on cranberry leaves and when adults emerge the cranberry blooms serve as a source of nectar.

 

See following shots of the host plant and also the habitat.

Rain and almost freezing temperatures but the building of the concrete fundaments of a new big building have to go on.

(Minolta MD 35-70mm)

The simple ILCE-6000 is the ideal combination with the old Minolta lens. Heads of for the Minolta technicians that were able to build these lenses so many years ago.

Chinese Pistache, Pistacia chinensis (Anacardiaceae), native to central and western China. It is planted worldwide due to its attractive fruit and fall foliage. It does not tolerate shade but tolerates freezing temperatures down to -25C.

This photo of the Lake Michigan shoreline was taken a few days ago from the end of South Pier. The present wind chill is -18F at the moment, so there will not be a nature walk today. Wednesday is supposed to be around freezing temperatures and that will seem balmy. I do try to avoid sub-zero weather whenever possible.

Still freezing temperatures but the snow is going as a Piccadilly Line train arrives into Eastcote. I was on my way into London for a Christmas Lunch and so took my camera on the trip in on the Met. I'd had enough of the Central for the time being. I believe the 1973 Stock on the Piccadilly is due for replacement in the new few years and the new trains are currently being built.

Freezing temperatures and open seas creating a steaming effect right next to Helsinki Market Square.

 

Taken January 2021.

Another wave from my best day out with a camera. South Gare Lighthouse, Redcar. I've always been a fair weather photographer and the conditions on the day were far from inspiring with wind, rain and freezing temperatures but my wife really wanted to go, so glad I took her!

The most amazing and unusual combination of conditions at Hesworth Common a few days ago. Very dense hoar frost combined with fog and freezing temperatures made for a wonderful morning for photography.

Die Mannheimer 365 664 verdingte sich am 15. Januar 1997 im Germersheimer Bahnhof.

 

Morgens war ich noch ganz nach Plan ins Geotechnische Labor der Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau in Karlsruhe gegangen, um meine Gesteinsproben für die Diplomarbeit zu verarbeiten. Dichter Nebel hing bei frostigen Temperaturen über der Stadt und die Aussicht aus den großen Fenstern war genauso trübe. Bis gegen Mittag sich die Sonne durchkämpfte. Ganz unauffällig habe ich meine Sachen zusammengeräumt und hab mich schnell verdrückt. Das Licht versprach sensationell zu werden. Mit der Linie A der Albtalbahn ab nach Hause, die Fototasche gepackt und einer göttlichen Eingebung folgend mit dem Auto nach Germersheim. In der Nähe des Rheines versprach ich mir besonders viel Rauhreif. Und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht.

 

Die Tonschieferproben von der Schleuse Wintrich konnten warten. Die zweite Schleuse Wintrich ist bis heute nicht gebaut, daran bin aber ich nicht schuld 😂

  

The Mannheimer 365 664 was hired out at the Germersheim train station on January 15, 1997. In the morning I went to the geotechnical laboratory of the Federal Institute of Hydraulic Engineering at Karlsruhe according to plan to process my rock samples for my diploma thesis. Thick fog hung over the city in freezing temperatures and the view from the large windows was just as gloomy. Until around midday the sun fought its way through. I discreetly put my things together and quickly left. The light promised to be sensational. Took line A of the Albtalbahn home, packed my camera bag and, following a divine inspiration, drove to Germersheim. I expected a particularly large amount of hoarfrost near the Rhine. And I wasn't disappointed. The slate samples from the Wintrich lock could wait. The second Wintrich lock hasn't been built yet, but that's not my fault 😂

  

The bare facts were pretty much inescapable. El Cotillo had changed dramatically over the course of my three visits to this growing seaside resort. Three visits which had spanned a period of twenty-two years in fact. It was on this quiet island, probably the least well known of the four largest in the archipelago that I first experienced the now familiar sensation of an airplane touching down. Not the first time I’d been in flight, but that was in another lifetime at the moment a parachute instructor yelled the single word “jump” somewhere over Ipswich airfield in 1986 when I was a student. In a surreal vision we saw David Cassidy wander through the airport that day, complete with entourage that mainly consisted of young ladies who were rather taller than he was – I seem to remember he was having a bit of a revival around then. In fact I’m surprised his hair wasn’t classified as a fire hazard at the time. Remember hair in the mid-eighties? When there were enough CFCs in the styling products to bring the moon crashing to earth, never mind a group of undergraduates who’d spent half their autumn term grant on a parachuting course? I’ve digressed. Back to El Cotillo.

 

I first visited El Cotillo on that early adventure at the turn of the century. I’d finally broken from years of financial drudgery and landed the job that pretty much transformed the life of my young family at the time. Now at last we could afford to get on a plane and see what the world beyond our borders looked like. Swimming in the sea in February during half term had until then seemed an unimaginable thing. Seeing signs on buildings written in words that were often only vaguely intelligible brought a childlike wonder to the world that I’d thought had been lost. This was Spain. Loads of people went to Spain – but I’d never even been close until now. The excitement at being here, if only for the briefest half term week was palpable.

 

And for a few days, just to make things even more interesting, we’d hired a car. When I walked to the rental office near our resort, I was asked if I didn’t mind having a bigger vehicle than the Renault Clio (or similar) we’d booked. When they handed over the keys to an enormous breeze block shaped white Nissan Patrol with four wheel drive, a mysterious looking second gear stick shaped object, and the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car, my collection of new experiences grew. But Fuerteventura offered easy driving and I loved the opportunity it would give us to explore. And explore we did with a drive across the island to the then small cluster of white buildings at the end of a long dusty road that consisted of El Cotillo. In fact it was my birthday – I was somewhere in my mid-thirties at the time. As we rolled slowly towards the beach along a wide empty road past silent buildings, nothing stirred other than a few bearded strays who looked as if they’d arrived here and had absolutely no intention of ever going anywhere else again. At the beach we discovered the horseshoe shaped shelters, thrown together from lumps of volcanic rock the colour of pitch. We swam in the sea and smiled at what a lovely time we were having in warm sunshine while Britain struggled to the end of another long winter. It was the place I’d remember long after the holiday was over. As the birthday boy I was photographed sitting on the rocks of a family sized stone circle, looking very pleased with myself. Overly smug? Probably.

 

It was a place that transcended major life events too. Ten years later I was here again at Christmas, this time with Ali. By now the novelty of boarding airplanes had long since departed, but the feeling of arriving on a warm island and escaping our seemingly endless winters at home remained just as joyful as it ever did. It still does. El Cotillo now had a couple more streets than before, but it retained the aura of a town at the border of the sea that almost everyone had overlooked in favour of the two main resorts in the northern half of the island. The day was unfortunately marred by a call from our neighbour at home to say the house had been flooded after a pipe had frozen and cracked in the freezing temperatures at home. We had to move into temporary lodgings while the insurers sorted out the aftermath, and we were well into summer by the time we could return. After that we vowed never to go away in the worst of the winter again.

 

As if history wanted to come back and bite us on our backsides, and despite waiting until early March, the morning we arrived at the airport Bristol was under several inches of snow and bathing in sub-zero temperatures. Fortunately, it didn’t appear to have spread as far as our home in the far southwest, so it seemed the water pipes in the house might remain intact, but our outbound flight was delayed by more than six hours as the airport chiefs attempted to catch up with an entire morning of delays and cancellations. The departure lounge was filled with people who littered every single corridor and seating area. Even at the gate we had to sit on a window ledge for an hour. By 10am, many of those delayed passengers were worse for wear as they staved off their boredom with regular visits to the Brunel Bar. I watched the young man sitting with his middle aged parents opposite us becoming ever more lairy as he drank what I’d counted to be at least his sixth pint of lager before lunchtime. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be going to Fuerteventura. Finally having boarded, we had to wait on the plane for a further two hours while the de-icer rigs were refilled with what remained of David Cassidy’s hairspray from 1986. But eventually we set off and felt that happy moment of arrival in warmer latitudes once more.

 

More than twelve years after that fateful Christmas visit, El Cotillo had mushroomed in size. Those bearded strays of yesteryear might by now be property tycoons. Tall buildings abounded, with an initially bewildering one way system and a myriad of cafes, bars, and restaurants. A noisy construction site filled the air with the sound of people in hi-visibility tabards at work. It seemed the austerity years that had brought development in so many parts of Spain, including here in Fuerteventura, had been ignored as El Cotillo grew and grew. Nothing stays the same forever. We had lunch in one of those new cafes and headed for the beach. The beach wasn’t deserted in quite the same way as I’d seen it on those earlier visits, but at least it was still far more peaceful than many of the local ones in Cornwall in high summer. There was still a sense of space and we still managed to bag ourselves a stone circle to lie in and feel the heat of the afternoon sun. It probably wasn’t the same one I’d sat on to be photographed in 2001.

 

Later, in fact at the end of every one of the seven or eight visits we made here during our stay, I headed out on the dark fissured rocks with the camera bag, looking for compositions. The sea at least hadn’t changed, and nor had the light. Here in coppery evening tones, mixed with pinks from the sky I could find tiny rockpools in the form of perfect circles bored into the lava by the endlessness of the ocean. I could lose myself in happy meanderings with the simple pleasures that a camera mounted on a very small tripod can bring. El Cotillo may have grown beyond all recognition from the silent dustbowl town I’d fallen in love with all those years ago – but it was still recognisable when you strolled across that picture perfect beach onto the rocks at sunset.

 

I’m not waiting for another decade to pass this time. We’re going back next year. I booked it straightaway after we came home. A done deal, despite it all. One of those places that feels a little bit like home, no matter how far away it is.

 

Finally, for those of you who've read this far - aplogoes for the recent absence. Ali and I have been on another adventure, this time off grid in the van and I haven't been able to access Flickr most of the time. I promise to catch up soon!

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