In common with the rest of the country, the start of 2010 saw the heaviest snow fall to hit west Cornwall for nearly 25 years with overnight temperatures dipping below -7C.
For the human population, easily led by the media hype, coupled with the modern climate of risk aversion this meant that all the local schools were closed, roads were labeled as impassable and vast numbers of people settled down to an extended Christmas holiday.
For the animal world opting out was not an option, and although the conditions brought extreme hardship, it was business as usual in the harsh daily battle to find enough food to survive. No television or radio to panic them about how lethal the conditions were, just their instinct & senses of the true conditions around them.



During the depths winter, on cold & stormy days, one of things we like to do to blow away the cobwebs is to spend an hour or so walking along the beach at nearby Praa Sands. Praa Sands is situated on the south coast of West Cornwall, 5.5 km east of Marazion, it’s beautiful golden sand running for a mile along the rim of Mounts Bay. Very popular with holiday makers in the summer, the wide open spaces are much quieter during the winter.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photography Group
The Small Pincertail is a relatively common & widespread species in the Iberian Peninsula, though apparently absent from the west coast regions of Portugal & the north coast regions of Spain.
The Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes is one of our commonest native mammals however in the countryside of Cornwall views of this handsome animal are usually confined to fleeting glimpses of a lone adult crossing a distant field, the odd individual illuminated by car headlights, or perhaps, sadly, the unfortunate roadside casualties that pepper our main roads. So on the 1st day of July it was a real privilege to share the late evening sunshine with three young fox cubs near the village of Townshend.