This is a Lackey Moth (Malacosoma neustria) caterpillar.
This picture shows where glaciers were 25,000 years ago, and you can see where we walked - from the Bains (thermal baths) of Llo, up the river valley, then around and over the hill where St Feliu is marked, then a steep slope down to the top of the village. You'll need to click on the photo to see the details.
This Pink was very bright and pretty though I have no idea what it is as there are umpteen species of wild Dianthus in Europe.
Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea).
The view. There was the worst haze I have ever seen - there should be mountains across the valley there! Yet we were in lovely warm sunshine so apart from the lack of views, it didn't matter.
Possibly a Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata). It has spotty leaves.
Keith is very good at taking photos of me with my eyes closed! 😀
Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza majalis)
My favourite flower of the day was this Black-eyed Heron's Bill (Erodium glandulosum). Erodiums are related to the Cranesbill Geraniums, but much smaller plants.
Houseleeks, one of the host plants of the Apollo butterfly, along with sedums. The one on the right and bottom is the Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum). The other one that is flowering I am not sure but could be the Common Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum).
We decided not to hike up this steep hill to the remains of the chapel called St Feliu, which you can just see at the top. We wouldn't have had a better view up there due to the haze.
Another Fritillary that I can't ID. Without pictures of the underwings, Fritillaries are very difficult to ID. This might actually be the same species as the unknown one in the previous post.
Another photo by Keith - this time it's a Robber Fly with prey of Provence Orange Tip butterfly.
The only part of the walk that I didn't like was the very steep descent back to Llo, and I thank goodness that I had my alpine stick to help. I find steep slippery slopes terrifying - the last thing I want to do is land on my bum! 😱
We came out at the top of the village. I just love this kind of old rounded slate tile that is still seen here and there in old villages in the mountains.
Down at the bottom of the village with the old ruin of La Tour del Vacaro in view on a hillside.
Back to where we parked near the Thermal Baths. Our route started off to the right out of this picture.
Well what a day! Other species of butterfly seen but not photographed:
Speckled Wood
Provence Orange Tip
Orange Tip
Black Veined White
Large White
Comma
Spanish Gatekeeper
Brimstone
Cleopatra
Clouded Yellow
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
White Admiral (or Southern White Admiral)
Small Heath
Wood White
Total approx 26 species for the day. 💜 The good thing is that this place is only 2.5 hours from home, so I certainly want to come back again, though I would like to walk further along the paved road towards the refuge next time.
The next day we went home, via Villefranche de Conflent, another Vauban citadel not far from Mont Louis. I don't have any great photos from there so I am winding up this travelogue with a final photo of me with a very strangely presented chicken kebab!!!
I hope you have enjoyed coming along on our travels with us. Many thanks to those of you who comment and let me know, or like on facebook.
Hi! Thanks for the wonderful trip! That butterfly looks exactly like the one we have here, the Ratamovekkoperhonen (Melitaea athalia), but are there the same butterflies there?
ReplyDeleteHi Anne and thanks very much! Yes, we do have the Heath Fritillary (Melicta/Melitaea athalia) and I put one on the previous post as I had pictures of the underwing so I could ID it. This one could well be the same species, but without seeing the underwing markings it's impossible to be sure, as there are so many Fritillaries that look similar on top! We do share a lot of the same species of butterfly. There is a list on Wikipedia 'List of butterflied of Finland' that I looked at.
DeleteThe best blog post yet! Thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us. You look wonderful, by the way :-)
ReplyDelete(Marianne in AZ)
The best comment ever! Huge thanks Marianne. I hope I am starting to look healthier as I lost so much weight but have now put back on slightly over half of that though I am larger now than in these photos and have gone up two clothing sizes and feel much happier in myself. However I was already putting weight on in these photos. You might have noticed I looked like a skeleton before. Weight gain is really hard when you want to put it on! Hugs xx
DeleteThanks so much Mandy for sharing your travels in these posts. Another lovely walk and so many butterflies and flowers again and oh those orchids!!! Wonderful. I really like houseleeks so it was super to see your photos. I could do with one of those walking poles!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Caroline! All my house leeks bar one have died in the last year which is a bit odd. However they were never happy here and rarely flowered unlike at the last house. I'm going to start again as I have an alpine trough which has been empty since we moved here and I thought house leeks (different ones obviously) would be easier to deal with than alpines.
DeleteI'm sure you can get an alpine walking stick off Amazon or any largish sports shot like Decathlon. They are not the same as Nordic walking poles apparently.
Sports shop! And I reread though what I had typed, haha!
DeleteThe mystery butterfly. I have looked at the Provencal Fritillary and it varies so much on its own. It may be that one as they are present in the South of France and Northern Spain. Shot in the dark and probably wrong.
ReplyDeleteHi Roy, the Provençal is very like the Heath on top. It could be either, but without seeing the underwings it’s impossible to tell. A lot of fritillaries vary in their markings and colouring so you can’t be sure from the top side with many of them. Thanks for trying anyway! :-)
DeleteWhat came with the kebab? 3 mysteries to my eyes. Delighted to hear that you are regaining your lost weight. Seem to be doing well for fitness too!
ReplyDeleteHi Diana! Well that's a good question - the round dish on the plate was Gratin Dauphinois (sliced potatoes baked with cream and garlic), the orange thing was, I think, butternut puree, but what was in the bowl on the metal thing is anybody's guess! I can't remember, was it a sauce? Looks more like a finger bowl as something is floating in it. Though finger bowls are not normal in France. A side salad would have been a preferable side dish to the squash!
DeleteThanks for the other comments - weight is doing well but I wouldn't say I was exactly fit! Knees are too dodgy these days. :-)