The Valley du Galbe revisited

I was very interested to see what the Galbe valley would be like later in the summer, and K didn't need much persuading, so we set off up to the mountains on the 9th August. There are a lot of photos in this post so you'd better get yourself a nice cup of something hot or a glass of something cold, and sit down to scroll through!

We had been hoping there would be some Apollo butterflies around, but it was not to be. Never mind, it was still as exciting up here as it had been seven weeks earlier.

The first thing we noticed were all the people around! I really hadn't expected that many, but by the time we got to the car park (down a long unpaved road from the hamlet where we engaged 4 wheel drive - it reminded me of driving in Fiji!) and started out on the walk, other people became a bit more sparse and didn't stop me from taking photos of butterflies etc, thank goodness!

Despite having dried out somewhat, there were still plenty of different wildflowers about. In the sun the vast majority were Knapweed and Scabious - always good for attracting butterflies and pollinators.

Below on the left is a really attractive Pink - Dianthus hyssopifolius or the Montpelier Pink. In the other pictures are Knapweed and Achillea, but with a pink variety as well as the white, which was rather pretty.

The patch above was a little field that hadn't been cut for hay, and was alive not just with the wildflowers but also Skippers. I saw Small Skippers and Essex Skippers, and even this mating pair on a Knapweed stem, which I think were Essex Skippers (Thymelicus lineola) but it is hard to tell.

In this picture I believe the top photo is a Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) (red tip to antennae) and the images below is of an Essex Skipper (black on underneath of tip of antennae and a bit more black around the outside of the upper wings).

However I have no clue what this interesting moth is! I saw a couple of them, buried into flowers.

Despite some of the grass having been grazed, there were still plenty of wildflowers and Fritillaries galore flying about. The one below I think is a Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe).

This was the best picture I could get of this Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia).

Sometimes you just can't help getting an annoying blade of grass in the way; where butterflies are concerned you just have to put up with it in many instances if you don't want them to fly away! This is a Dark Green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja) which I have only seen once before in the Eyne Valley, which is not too far away from here.

And this is a lifer! The High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe). Now what was I saying about annoying blades of grass - or stems - in the way?! 😀

When we went past the refuge that I showed in my June post, we noticed people coming out so decided to have a look inside, as we have never been in one before. It was quite cosy - room for about 10 people with two tables, a double bed in a nook and four double sized bunks with single mattresses (didn't like the look of them very much), so plenty of room for people to spread out. There was a pot belly stove indoors for the winter with dry firewood and some kitchen equipment and some food basics in a little pantry cupboard. I didn't see a tap but there must have been water somewhere and as for toilet, no idea, a convenient bush I expect! There were already some large backpacks dumped in there by I imagine people off to do a walk and then come back later. (We also saw quite a few people with serious backpacks walking along the path as it leads to higher up and more mountain refuges further on). Outside was a large fireplace/bbq for summer cooking. If you have a sleeping bag and can avoid putting your head or body directly on the mattress then I am sure it is perfectly comfy and cosy if you are into long mountain hikes. I'll stick to my own bed or the moho, though, thanks very much! 😀

As far as blues went, it was all about this silvery blue one - the Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon)! Another lifer for me. I've seen the Provence Chalkhill Blue which was flying at a time when the Chalkhill doesn't, otherwise it can be very difficult for the layman to tell the difference, other than the Provence tends to be greyer and the Chalkhill a bit more blue. So I am calling these ones Chalkhills! (I have lots of photos, I'm not just trying to ID from one photo.)

I found a bunch of butterflies puddling on mud near the stream. Nearly all are Chalkhill Blues plus either a Small White or Green Veined White (hard to tell), but when I looked closer at my photos I spotted a Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) in the top left corner. You will need to click to view larger and what you are seeing is a butterfly with wings closed with a dark coloured underwing with a white vertical line. However I can zoom in and I've seen the identifying spots and markings. I have this at home and they are very much attracted to pea family plants, not just to lay eggs on but also to nectar on. They can actually be a pest in some places. There are actually six butterflies in this picture.

Back near the car park is the picnic area in the shade beside the stream. I was amazed to see lots of white Astrantia major flowering, as I'm used to it as a garden plant. With it is this pretty wild Lettuce (Latuca sp.) and the pink flower - see below. Also lots of the Dianthus hyssopifolius was flowering in the heavy shade too and didn't seem to mind sun or shade.

The pink flower looked just like Scabious to me, but the leaves were completely different. After a bit of research I have learned that it is the related Knautia dipsacifolia. On the left is Aconitum sp., commonly known as Monkshood or Wolfsbane, amongst other names.

We then drove back to the tiny village of Espousouille to where we had walked beside the wildflower meadows seven weeks earlier. As I had expected, they had been cut for hay. A bit surprising really as there were more flowers than grass in some places earlier! There were still wildflowers growing along the edges of the road (this is not the road we drove on! This is a new, lovely flat road which leads to the car park but only for walking on, it seems. Makes no sense at all!). We walked a little way but it was really getting hot and there was no shade, so we returned to have a look at the little stream, near where we had parked.

Well the stream was certainly a lot calmer than it had been in mid June!

Looking in the other direction.

We then decided to return to the village of Railleu where we had gone in June as I seem to recall Apollos had been seen there the year before. Still none! We had a nice scenic drive there though as our satnav decided to take us on a very long way round to the village, but I didn't mind, despite K grumbling all the way. 😁

A lot of butterflies were flitting through the village but mostly too fast to ID them, until we came to a Buddleia growing in an overgrown garden which was alive with butterflies! Below is another Dark Green Fritillary, and there were also lots of Silver Washed Fritillaries which I hadn't seen in the valley of Galbe (though seen plenty of them before). Too fast for photos though! I also saw a Jersey Tiger Moth.

The highlight though was this Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris - what??? how the hell do you pronounce that!!!) taking a break on a windowsill! I expect K got some nice photos with his camera and fancy lens, but I am more than happy with my own photo, as it was pretty close!

On the way back home we stopped beside the area where we had seen the Red Backed Shrike in June as the stony banks looked interesting with wildflowers and some butterflies flitting. These Pinks appealed to me as they were such a splash of pink here and there as we were driving past. They are Dianthus balbisii and grow in hot and dry places. Although I didn't get any more decent photos I saw here Meadow Brown, Clouded Yellow, Marbled White and a Glanville Fritillary, taking my Fritillary tally for the day to six, which is not bad!

All in all just as interesting here in summer as spring.