tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45475057030818396362024-03-19T09:47:02.223+01:00Chateau Moorhen..... goes south!Now living in Aude in the Languedoc-Roussillon regionMillymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.comBlogger496125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-79902616551531227192024-03-09T17:05:00.000+01:002024-03-09T17:05:57.089+01:00Spain Trip Oct 2023 - Part 1 Monfrague National Park, Extremadura<span style="font-family: verdana;">We're continuing on with last year's travels; this time it was our three week trip in October to Extremadura in western Spain and Andalucia in southern Spain. The map below shows the two regions we visited and the map below that is of Extremadura. It took us 2.5 days to drive to northern Extremadura, with overnight stops at San Sebastian and Salamanca. Spain is a large country!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Extremadura is cattle country, despite it being so dry at this time of the year that there is barely a blade of grass anywhere. I wondered how the cattle survived to be honest. They are not in fields but in huge open expanses of land, with pools of water that have been dug into the ground for drinking water, but no sign of any other fodder for eating that I could see. Most of the wild areas are called the Dehesa; these are huge grassy plains dotted about with Holm or Cork Oaks, and quite different from anything we have seen before. The landscape is stunning despite the dryness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Next time we visit Spain we are going in the spring to see the wildflowers, and hopefully there will be more choice of birds as it will be breeding season by then. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Copyright <a href="https://spainspotters.com/regions-of-spain/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spain Spotters</a></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We started off in Monfrague National Park, which is a nature lovers' paradise, particularly if you like vultures! On the map below, it's the area between Plasencia and Caceres where the rivers are wide. These rivers have been dammed and have formed large reservoirs, and it is a hilly area and very scenic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Copyright <a href="https://www.traildino.fr/trace/continents-europe/countries-spain/regions-Extremadura" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Traildino</a></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Our campsite was within walking distance of one of the park visitor centres, which was very interesting. We also made friends with a cat at the campsite. In fact it was so friendly I feared I wouldn't get 'rid' of it, so was rather pleased when it wandered off and started yowling at some other motorhomers! I'm sure the little tinker gets lots of treats (but not from us, we are not stupid where cats are concerned! 😁).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We were also rather chuffed to spot a lifer bird at the campsite our first evening there. This was at dusk so not a very good shot, but it's a record shot all the same. This is an Azure Winged Mapgie and they are a bit smaller than the regular Magpie, and a lot prettier. We saw them around the visitor centre and in the national park too. With their blue colouring they are quite easy to spot flying around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">These are cork oaks, and the reason for the second cropped photo is to show all the different levels of harvested bark. There are four levels here - click on the photo to bring it up larger and sharper. Look from the middle brown patch on the trunk up the main left branch and you should spot them all. Cork is harvested generally every nine years after a first cut when the tree is about 25 years old, so it's not a fast process!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This isn't a great photo as these Cormorants were very distant, but we watched them moving all the way down a reservoir by this strange sort of half run half fly movement, then rest a few seconds in the water, and repeat! I don't quite know why when they are perfectly able to fly normally. Again. click on the photo to see a bit more detail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Loved this interesting rock formation.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZAIb4MjHo4HLcrSlcUIc4R0xdwDapjH1Xi7H4jTnA2u14qIHz2tDDlfTCcmAxyYML9kqOvzruODn7VWHKtAODcDfJobWyZXa_N1J8rQ8JCJKcMFJLy3PdcwiWARD47cphAz53rFCzv44UMUBxFjA4PdhRHjCyaG2seWMfzA_6qCcAivpRwe6-yhRlRk/s1500/M-Allen-20231011-1080358Rock%20Formation2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZAIb4MjHo4HLcrSlcUIc4R0xdwDapjH1Xi7H4jTnA2u14qIHz2tDDlfTCcmAxyYML9kqOvzruODn7VWHKtAODcDfJobWyZXa_N1J8rQ8JCJKcMFJLy3PdcwiWARD47cphAz53rFCzv44UMUBxFjA4PdhRHjCyaG2seWMfzA_6qCcAivpRwe6-yhRlRk/w640-h426/M-Allen-20231011-1080358Rock%20Formation2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">A lichen tree!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Heliotrope (<i>Heliotropium europaeum</i>) was one of the very few plants flowering in Extremadura, as it was the end of the season and very dry everywhere. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnZnQP9BZJmK9en1zkbNEjXeXtD0CI0ETL3SJU13xXX4tAUZAR3kKp5AywKn46EZfdSRPy3NR_rFPudr3ymAMBEz2LXxHTPM5VHaRHKEd9Q6HZsn7kI9YlQDiyEgN_vqCJjkI5MCe6sOmy6NNTyu1V8o5-Ph8I87o1zOD_PX9r5rUv-iTORo2t_IhqNE/s1500/M-Allen-20231011-1080319Heliotrope2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnZnQP9BZJmK9en1zkbNEjXeXtD0CI0ETL3SJU13xXX4tAUZAR3kKp5AywKn46EZfdSRPy3NR_rFPudr3ymAMBEz2LXxHTPM5VHaRHKEd9Q6HZsn7kI9YlQDiyEgN_vqCJjkI5MCe6sOmy6NNTyu1V8o5-Ph8I87o1zOD_PX9r5rUv-iTORo2t_IhqNE/w640-h426/M-Allen-20231011-1080319Heliotrope2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This granite bridge, started in 1450, doesn't really look old looking down on it like this, but if you look at <a href="https://planvex.es/web/2019/09/contempla-puente-del-cardenal/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this website</a> you will see pictures of it when the water level is much lower and you can see all the arches beneath. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3KxBgJ2LfC0XBOzBpiYHOGgYl5zCevwqtj2bsPpsQfPWchvPrcPDNFCpXR_IKoOc__RQZHzbXriwLb2-tsTdExfQr-cAaqcxaF7WX_LMZgvm9qnSBtU15FgJU7HcjjAqs_rnGBPa3aQqvlMQKly7F-mpywDPhLScR5h9VwicqUH5f22uihIfgbmuh08/s1500/M-Allen-20231011-1080375Cardinal%20Bridge2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3KxBgJ2LfC0XBOzBpiYHOGgYl5zCevwqtj2bsPpsQfPWchvPrcPDNFCpXR_IKoOc__RQZHzbXriwLb2-tsTdExfQr-cAaqcxaF7WX_LMZgvm9qnSBtU15FgJU7HcjjAqs_rnGBPa3aQqvlMQKly7F-mpywDPhLScR5h9VwicqUH5f22uihIfgbmuh08/w640-h426/M-Allen-20231011-1080375Cardinal%20Bridge2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'll post the rest from this park in Part 2 as there are too many photos! 😀</span><br />
<br /></p><p></p>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-74833586418761736742024-03-01T16:20:00.000+01:002024-03-01T16:20:35.429+01:00Odds and ends from last year<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a selection of photos from last year which haven't fitted in to any other posts, so I'm putting them all together here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">These are some photos which K took whilst out walking in the local area. This is the first Montagu's Harrier (<i>Circus pygargus</i>) which he has seen around here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Turtle Doves (<i>Streptopelia turtur</i>). They are not so common any more, and are far more often heard than seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a beautiful shot - he heard a Bee-eater (<i>Merops apiaster</i>) on the other side of a shrub from where he was standing and managed to get his lens inside and find the bird without it seeing or hearing him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">One day last July whilst my brother was still staying with us there was a sort of 'pop-up' medieval museum over the weekend. First we had a wander round the old bit of town up on the hill whilst looking for the museum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Above are old buildings which have been done up on the exterior (boringly!), whereas below, there are quite a number of houses still in their old state. Many show signs of different repairs/renovations over the years. I think this one below is a gallery of some sort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A rather interesting window!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Above the door arch in this building is a stone engraved with the year of the building - 1617.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The museum was really interesting. It was held by a husband and wife team who were passionate about all things medieval and take part in reenactments. They had been collecting, and making, medieval clothes, arms and tools over the years, and were so enthusiastic about it they just loved sharing their knowledge with visitors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Below are mostly surgeon's tools. Makes my blood run cold just thinking about it! Also, in that box in the front are coins, dating from Roman times through to medieval and beyond. I asked the lady where she got them from and she said she had found them in her garden in the village!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">She also made chain mail, a very time consuming labour of love. The husband had an enormous display of weapons and small working replicas of things like trebuchets. We spent about an hour here in these two small rooms, as there was so much to see and the couple were so interesting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Onto the garden - Southern Green Shieldbugs (<i>Nezara viridula</i>) were a bit of a pest on my tomatoes. They were swarming over one of the trusses of a cherry tomato piercing the skin of the fruit, leaving spotty marks on them and rendering the fruit inedible - none of them tasted nice after that. Here though, it's on a Garlic Chive flower, not causing any harm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This isn't the adult which is more of a plain green. This is one of the later stage instars, which I think is very pretty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Another pest, but I still like it, is the Geranium Bronze (<i>Cacyreus marshalli</i>) from South Africa, which lays its eggs on geranium plants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a Tabasco chilli and it's the first time I've grown one, so I was surprised to see how the fruit grew pointing upwards instead of the usual hanging downwards. They were also extremely hot!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I didn't plant that Verbena bonariensis. When I planted the tomatoes and chillies which I bought as small plants from the garden centre, I mixed up a bit of our own home grown compost with bought compost. Suddenly I had tomatoes, parsley and verbena seedlings all growing in the pots! I potted up some of the Verbenas and left the rest in place as they were too close to the other plants, so we got a lot of free colour on the patio last summer! I shall be planting some of them around here and there in the garden. It's funny, as I had planned on buying some seeds this year to grow a few to add to the garden as they are rather short lived perennials, and my old ones need replacing. 😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">When the Autumn Lady's Tresses orchids (<i>Spiranthes spiralis</i>) appeared, I tried to take photos of some, but Harry decided to plonk himself down in front of the camera! Luckily you can see the flowering stalk in front of him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A Praying Mantis (<i>Mantis religiosa</i>) nibbling his/her toes! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Fast forward to this year and whilst doing some tidying of my shrubs recently, I finally came across my first ootheca, which is the egg case of the Praying Mantis! This one is an old one where the young have hatched out, but it was still an exciting find.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Now I just want to find one which still has living eggs/grubs inside so I can hope to find some tiny young mantises, as they look so cute!<br />
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I have moved some of the Wasp Spider egg sacs to safe places under shrubs or the hedge as I came across them whilst tidying up. K also cleared up the ditch this year as it was so overgrown with brambles and Old Man's Beard, and I remembered where the egg sacs were that I had found last year, so moved them too.</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-90113043032866347862024-02-22T16:29:00.000+01:002024-02-22T16:29:51.381+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 7 Glanum, St Remy de Provence<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There is a downside to having a Moho and that's not being able to park easily. Before we go anywhere I look on google maps for car parks and then look on street view to see if there is a height barrier (something you don't notice when you travel in a car). There is a lovely coastal town called Cassis that I've been wanting to visit for several years, but when we got there, the only parking I had found that seemed feasible was closed. And it had a barrier that I hadn't seen on street view anyway! So there was only one thing to do, and that was to keep on driving. I kept getting glimpses of multicoloured buildings beside the port and amazing cliffs with a castle below, but unless we find that there are any buses running there that we can park near, we sadly won't be visiting. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So on we went to a place that had its own car park. These are the remains of a Roman town near St Remy de Provence known as Glanum. Nearby are two well preserved monuments known as 'les Antiques' from the 1st century BC. Below, the mausoleum of the Julii, dating from about 40BC. </span><br />
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</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNnHbpat16Prrmxvk9Vw1aekKmRthaycfHT_ZRCTUjeE44lpA_Rii8_kooz1CDM55CPW_1wPB4KPXO13XL0al0ya94EAJbDLKRfGJw7z_TgvhI1MI-YKlw_cKNtHZPz-u3NXLhStpnvbXk4sQbOfeHOvpqW5cBVaTbBZyAGGrj91AOE3q5moOloSaASw/s1500/M-Allen-20230708-1080215Roman%20site12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNnHbpat16Prrmxvk9Vw1aekKmRthaycfHT_ZRCTUjeE44lpA_Rii8_kooz1CDM55CPW_1wPB4KPXO13XL0al0ya94EAJbDLKRfGJw7z_TgvhI1MI-YKlw_cKNtHZPz-u3NXLhStpnvbXk4sQbOfeHOvpqW5cBVaTbBZyAGGrj91AOE3q5moOloSaASw/w640-h426/M-Allen-20230708-1080215Roman%20site12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">And this monument is a triumphal arch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Amazing stone carvings on the underneath of the arch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The town itself is built around a sacred spring and was inhabited by the Salyens between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC, later falling to the Romans. The original town was destroyed and later rebuilt several times, during a period of on and off warfaring between the Salyens, the Greeks in nearby Marseille, and the Romans. Most of the remains excavated here are from the Roman era of the 1st century BC to 1st century AD.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Glanum was destroyed by Germanic tribes in 260AD and abandoned, with many of the stones being used to build nearby St Remy de Provence. The town became covered in deep soil over the centuries until excavations began in 1921. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The House of the Antae, a Hellenistic-style residence with a peristyle (columns surrounding internal courtyard) of Tuscan columns and a basin to capture rainwater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Keith stealing a bit of Roman pottery! 😁</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the temple of Cybele there was an altar dedicated to the priestess Loreia, with a stone carving of the ears of the goddess, that she might hear prayers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Restored columns of twin Corinthian temples in the first Roman Forum of Glanum (20 BC).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DM3eLJtn7QYhPs_EeenHOtKO2dIU46p_R_BN9EGchCKHn4OEQD_ZosP21c86dAjZISxH7Kw8sbiwv1OO1FpcdB5bMmccoqUdXPBVMvXxftCgp8oTPZj9lQFVDRtXfgrVbH1fPYgYVJDZvBYvHut44Are1SFjvwMNUI1mf0gWoGvX-kCpw9DjL5phXy4/s1500/M-Allen-20230708-1080243Roman%20site112.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DM3eLJtn7QYhPs_EeenHOtKO2dIU46p_R_BN9EGchCKHn4OEQD_ZosP21c86dAjZISxH7Kw8sbiwv1OO1FpcdB5bMmccoqUdXPBVMvXxftCgp8oTPZj9lQFVDRtXfgrVbH1fPYgYVJDZvBYvHut44Are1SFjvwMNUI1mf0gWoGvX-kCpw9DjL5phXy4/w640-h426/M-Allen-20230708-1080243Roman%20site112.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Below, in the middle where the two columns are, is the remains of the Temple of Valetudo, about 39 BC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We had wanted to visit St Remy de Provence afterwards, but it was so hot that we were really weary by now so opted to just go to our campsite and chill out. It's such a shame when it's too hot as we end up missing out on doing things. We were lucky though that the real heat didn't appear until the last few days of our holiday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">On our way home we stopped at a motorway services which has views of the medieval Cité of Carcassonne. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The sunflowers were in full bloom so I took some photos with my phone as we drove the last ten minutes home after leaving the motorway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Nearly home - our village up on the hill. Our house is off to the left out of the picture, although we can see it from here and from much further away, in fact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And that, my friends, concludes our Provence trip last summer! Keith and I are planning to go back in September to see more of the mountainous areas in northern Provence, with, I'm sure, a few days at the big campsite by the beach again!</span><br />
<br /></p>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-80560352375673020272024-02-16T15:34:00.000+01:002024-02-16T15:34:15.054+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 7 Ports of La Favière and Le Lavandou<span style="font-family: verdana;">I love wandering around marinas looking at the boats. I like to imagine myself on a big 'gin palace' cruising the Mediterranean - when we win the lottery, of course! This is the marina at La Favière, which is the port of Bormes les Mimosas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I liked the one just above best until we came across this huge catamaran below - it was bigger than it looks here, viewing it from the side. I wouldn't have let these two rough looking chaps anywhere near it though if it were mine! 😁</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking across to our campsite which took up most of that hillside! It really is a huge place, but we were lucky that we didn't need to walk up the hill to go anywhere - we could get to the port or the bus stop by walking along a boardwalk beside the beach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">On Le Lavandou market day we visited the town afterwards. Beside the marina:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We ate out beside the marina and my dessert was the best I've ever had in France. A selection of Moroccan pastries, full of sugar syrup or honey and almonds. I scoffed them all - yum!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A wander through Le Lavandou. The Hotel de Ville is the town hall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Plane trees - the bark is similar to Eucalyptus trees with their multicoloured peeling bark. They are excellent trees for Mediterranean climates with large shaded areas beneath.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Ditto the Umbrella Pines below for shade. Loved those colourful chairs too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">One day we revisited a garden open to the public at Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer just along the coast, but due to it being very dry in the coastal areas (unlike inland) there was very little flowering and it was rather disappointing. The views were nice though!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a lovely stretch of coast which is nothing like the built up areas further along the Cote d'Azur, plus when you get closer to Nice, the beaches become pebbly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Most afternoons we had a swim from the beach by our campsite and even persuaded Keith to come in one day! I love our pool but there is just something so special about swimming in the sea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Nearly finished - one more post to go!</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-87936265993315978242024-02-12T15:23:00.000+01:002024-02-12T15:23:14.664+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 6 Bormes les Mimosas<span style="font-family: verdana;">The village of Bormes les Mimosas, near Le Lavandou, is a few kilometres inland from its port, called La Favière, which was where we were camping. We have stayed at the Camp du Domaine several times before and it is right on the beach. It's one of the largest and most expensive campsites we have ever been to and doesn't even have a pool, but the sea swimming there is just fabulous as there's not a stone or pebble when you walk from the golden sandy beach right out into the water, which slopes shallowly. So we reckon it is worth a splurge every now and again for three or four days!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We took the bus up to the village which is in the hills and is one of the prettiest places I have ever visited, because it's just dripping in Bougainvillea, Plumbago and other flowering plants!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Our route from Entrevaux:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I love the ochre and terracotta colours of these buildings, especially with the pale green shutters, a common colour in Provence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A good excuse to have lunch out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Two old geezers sitting in the shade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A wander around the ports of La Favière and Le Lavandou in the next post.</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-21903709314656574612024-02-07T15:41:00.000+01:002024-02-07T15:41:49.240+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 5 St Martin Vesubie to Entrevaux<span style="font-family: verdana;">The next day we left Isola in the Tinee Valley and headed to Entrevaux. I'd forgotten I had marked out our routes on Google Maps and made screenshots of them, which would have been more helpful for you for the previous routes! The reason for the longer route below was because there were several gorges on the routes south that didn't sound like they would be possible in our motorhome.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhdV9zqyVIkaEqRd68014D5bj7O6EjXUyjHj-nLPQ6HM4VejtwRNnAn40uvet30HlxsN0EamYeIqmET1vM-ip9LuM7eJOtWY55UtSfMXpRDctoCVzfGBQiCCadOJSrIMkv9UcvgZ7-saHjDtqjZ2WrA68Yhi26dUPFyi_aO-nWby6uNNHcn9h38d-ZLA/s2048/IMG_1383.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhdV9zqyVIkaEqRd68014D5bj7O6EjXUyjHj-nLPQ6HM4VejtwRNnAn40uvet30HlxsN0EamYeIqmET1vM-ip9LuM7eJOtWY55UtSfMXpRDctoCVzfGBQiCCadOJSrIMkv9UcvgZ7-saHjDtqjZ2WrA68Yhi26dUPFyi_aO-nWby6uNNHcn9h38d-ZLA/w480-h640/IMG_1383.PNG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Again I took photos with my phone out of the side window as we drove along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here we are coming into St Martin Vesubie. This town and those further down the valley suffered dreadfully from Storm Alex in 2020. About 600mm of rain (about a year's worth for some parts of France) fell in one day, resulting in mud slides and flash flooding in the narrow river valley, which caused roads and buildings to be washed away and loss of life. Even now, a lot remains to be rebuilt. The river bed was full of bulldozers and concrete blocks piled up. There were huge boulders everywhere which presumably had been washed down the valley. Hard to believe when the river itself was only a little stream when we went through - the power of water is really scary. There are some heartbreaking photos in this <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/10/photos-flooding-southeastern-france/616629/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">online gallery here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Coming closer to that building, you can see how much of the bank was washed away and this poor building, whilst it still looks ok would have been condemned as it is far too dangerous to be lived in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">You can see if you click on the photo that the bridge is no longer there - just concrete stumps on either side. I can't actually see the stream here at all. We are driving over a new bridge whilst the photo was being taken.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Another view of what was left of the original bridge here, on the right side of the river bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This area looks like the banks have been built up and the river bed cleared of boulders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Poor old house!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">When we arrived at our campsite near Entrevaux we went for a walk beside the Var river to the little town. It was on this path where I saw the Southern Comma butterfly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Entrevaux, which was a bit of a sleepy hollow to be honest. There is a castle up the top of the hill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here you can see the castle perched on top of the rock, with lovely zigzag paths leading all the way up to it. I had originally thought about going up there, but changed my mind when I saw just how far it was - and I think I'd have been going on my own anyway! 😀</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56h5s38sbH8Kg6eg1zxjy67K6qbJFtDKKqdAikI3jpWqBrBXlcIktIkpzmbJP8sE6Qw8kZwGnoyvXbKVSNoQ9gOSek1F1Kqd-I3jKCTm_N6gIkv7Lgbuy3r69kRzjdxhw7TxT8eUHwZcxUGwurpxQkC4alm7rTg8UbqI9C8hzs-QHPt1kWgnYFIaXJ2g/s2000/M-Allen-20230703-2-7Entrevaux52.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56h5s38sbH8Kg6eg1zxjy67K6qbJFtDKKqdAikI3jpWqBrBXlcIktIkpzmbJP8sE6Qw8kZwGnoyvXbKVSNoQ9gOSek1F1Kqd-I3jKCTm_N6gIkv7Lgbuy3r69kRzjdxhw7TxT8eUHwZcxUGwurpxQkC4alm7rTg8UbqI9C8hzs-QHPt1kWgnYFIaXJ2g/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230703-2-7Entrevaux52.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">From here we headed to the coast - to be followed in Part 6.</span><br />
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Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-42899615796363783582024-02-03T15:57:00.001+01:002024-02-03T16:01:03.333+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 4 La Col de la Bonette (Scenery)<span style="font-family: verdana;">The Col de la Bonette is on the stretch of D64 that links Jausiers, near Barcelonnette to the village of St Etienne de Tinée in the Alpes-Maritime dept, which eventually links Nice to Barcelonnette and beyond in the summer months when the col is open. Most of the road lies within the Mercantour National Park. Originally a mule track, transformed into a road in 1832, then classified imperial in 1860 by Emperor Napoleon III, the road as we know it was completed in 1964 but it took another ten years for the loop road around the Cime to be completed. </span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">At 2,715 m the Col de la Bonette is <i>one</i> of the highest paved road passes in Europe; apparently if you allow for the extra loop road around the Cime de la Bonette, which reaches 2,802m, it is the highest paved <i>through road</i>. The loop road is, however, not a col (pass)! There are higher non through roads, there are higher passes and there are higher unpaved roads but there is one thing which is not disputable, and that is that it is a very high route indeed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There are a number of abandoned military forts and bases up in the mountains as we are very close to the Italian border here and they stem from the days when France was protecting its Alpine borders from the Italians. You can see a fort in the following photo on the right - click to view larger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">You can see the loop road in the following two photos - not the obvious road below but up in the grey rocky area - and the Cime (which means peak) is at 2,860m. The Tour de France has included this pass a number of times in the past and will again this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We didn't actually do this loop - you don't have to as you can just ignore that extra section and start going downwards after the actual pass. I would have loved to have stopped there and climbed up to the top of the Cime, where there is an orientation table. Looking ahead though, we could see those snow drifts and were a bit unsure. It's not like we could have turned around on the road to come back and reversing a motorhome wasn't going to be great deal of fun! So we did the boring but sensible thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There wasn't much traffic and the road was well looked after and definitely ok to do in a 7m motorhome at the beginning of July. I'm not sure about travelling it during the school summer holidays though. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm pretty sure this drift was actually just before we came to the col, further reinforcing our decision to miss the loop!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And down the other side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Fourches Camp, another abandoned military site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I didn't take so many photos coming down as going up. At this last place where we were able to stop the whole hillside was covered in Yellow Rattle (<i>Rhinanthus minor</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Yellow Rattle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I've never seen a Foxglove like this before - Large Yellow Foxglove (<i>Digitalis grandiflora</i>), native to southern Europe and Asia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This day was, for me, the highlight of our two week trip - between the scenery and the alpine wildflowers it was absolutely outstanding. There were even butterflies at the beginning of the day, some of which I have shown on my <a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2024/01/butterflies-in-provence-june-2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Butterflies in Provence post</a>. I can't wait to revisit the col, though on a warmer day might be nice! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We spent the night at Isola in the Tinée valley before continuing on our journey. </span><br />
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Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-2125359618991132952024-01-31T13:43:00.000+01:002024-01-31T13:43:40.683+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 3 La Col de la Bonette (Wildflowers)<span style="font-family: verdana;">This day dawned lovely and sunny and we went for a wander around Barcelonnette, which is quite a pretty place. We were lucky to find it was market day, so my brother and I who were after honey, had a good mooch around and a honey taste here and there. (I found later in the year that the local honey producers selling at a fete in my village were a lot cheaper - Provence markets are aiming at tourists, after all! I'll know better in the future).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And off we set - up to the highest paved road in Europe, supposedly! at 2,715m altitude. I had researched this road on the internet as I wanted to know if it was doable in a 7m motorhome. The answer was yes, but not if you suffer from vertigo. That was no longer going to stop me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the first place that we stopped where I came across <a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2024/01/butterflies-in-provence-june-2023.html" target="_blank">butterflies puddling</a>, I also had a good look around the wildflowers. This was at about 2,000m altitude. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Most of the IDing has been done with PlantNet so I will blame them if my IDs are incorrect!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Burnet Rose (<i>Rosa spinosissima</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Further along and higher still, we stopped beside a lake and a valley with a little stream running through. Wildflowers abounded and it was fabulous! It was quite a lot cooler by now though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the following photo there is <i>Alchemilla mollis</i> and Thyme plus various other little flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Alpine Birds-foot Trefoil (<i>Lotus alpinus</i>) and Alpine Chickweed or Mouse-ear (<i>Cerastium alpinum</i>). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Clockwise from left: Betony-leaved rampion (<i>Phyteuma betonicifolium</i>), <i>Alpine Clover (Trifolium alpinum</i>), Alpine Avens (<i>Geum montanum</i>) and </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Peacock-eye Pink (<i>Dianthus pavonius</i>). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Alpine Thrift (<i>Armeria alpina</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There was a high mountain lake, with a few people fishing in it. There didn't look like any life in it, but I guess there was some kind of mountain fish or they wouldn't be fishing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A Gentian (<i>Gentiana utriculosa</i>) on the left, Alpine Bellflower (<i>Campanula alpestris</i>) and me with camera in hand.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSVkiSOTuLlWC5YFevSWXyZd_I4jAhOQ3qSHcEPMcsbfZ1jkXVul59RVidd4j3TTwdJdhmBhnZQ1uw5PVkBSS8mQPq9TvcKAEyCGlJXwdebV3rUCSp5XUwAzcOqojrrHt4a_x7tq_Vlvttw-4bk8wLxVNm7YOj7sxr3GAr1dfzPwEdYgBk02dVkTxkrc/s1200/Wildflower%20Collage2-3Wildflower%20Collage3%20Watermarked2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSVkiSOTuLlWC5YFevSWXyZd_I4jAhOQ3qSHcEPMcsbfZ1jkXVul59RVidd4j3TTwdJdhmBhnZQ1uw5PVkBSS8mQPq9TvcKAEyCGlJXwdebV3rUCSp5XUwAzcOqojrrHt4a_x7tq_Vlvttw-4bk8wLxVNm7YOj7sxr3GAr1dfzPwEdYgBk02dVkTxkrc/w640-h640/Wildflower%20Collage2-3Wildflower%20Collage3%20Watermarked2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the boggy patch beside the stream I came across two different orchids, on the left a Marsh Fragrant Orchid (<i>Gymnadenia densiflora</i>) and a <i>Dactylorhiza</i>, though I can't be sure which one it is. PlantNet has given me <i>Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. alpestris</i> or Broad-leaf Marsh Orchid (<i>Dactylorhiza majalis</i>). It has quite wide spotty leaves so I think it is the Alpine <i>Dactylorhiza</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A little bit further up the road we spotted a Marmot; this was my brother's first sighting of one so I was really pleased about that! It was closer than the ones we had seen in the Pyrenees, but it didn't hang around for long. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A little pond and views of the treeless ridges as we travelled higher.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqNutnsXln8WbGKYSx_lM_fx_igZ_GraEbNZPaJbxZNRxNOfTH0X2UmWK7P-i0GJch_T-_c9q30wHHNkeFVW43IHguyb0XruyNLV6vXQPLFPiAFnKTq57tYOGB0T9U0PF689m89so3jkZfKol0Stnd6gNbI2j32RhOtTWq0WvIb13TxzQIul4-usM2qs/s1500/M-Allen-20230701-2135Bonette%20Scenery42.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1500" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqNutnsXln8WbGKYSx_lM_fx_igZ_GraEbNZPaJbxZNRxNOfTH0X2UmWK7P-i0GJch_T-_c9q30wHHNkeFVW43IHguyb0XruyNLV6vXQPLFPiAFnKTq57tYOGB0T9U0PF689m89so3jkZfKol0Stnd6gNbI2j32RhOtTWq0WvIb13TxzQIul4-usM2qs/w640-h456/M-Allen-20230701-2135Bonette%20Scenery42.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">And so we continued, higher and higher ..... to be continued in Part 4!</span><br />
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<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-82675725246791562802024-01-26T14:36:00.001+01:002024-02-03T16:00:41.518+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 2 Lavender Fields, Verdon Gorge and Col d'Allos<span style="font-family: verdana;">The next morning with new tyres fitted we finally made it to the Valensole plateau, and boy was there lavender! Miles and miles of it in places. I was in my element. 😀</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMb70sQBIql3Unv1m56EanAMtVBG7EzBTU73Pb43JICijpL735_-msqPJX17m58Ce_esEE2C2_3LfNrj8xhcdag0ohyphenhyphen8Qm4NQEq6Pvzlj0P1ZZ1542nCHsn9-kT6seTKbbK6WgaoH26OfJtWlkZj0IsNy-klekdzpqY3CBZbKvYkTBySJmaUlqNJwlnM/s1500/IMG_20230629_124417_965-2Lavender%20Fields12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMb70sQBIql3Unv1m56EanAMtVBG7EzBTU73Pb43JICijpL735_-msqPJX17m58Ce_esEE2C2_3LfNrj8xhcdag0ohyphenhyphen8Qm4NQEq6Pvzlj0P1ZZ1542nCHsn9-kT6seTKbbK6WgaoH26OfJtWlkZj0IsNy-klekdzpqY3CBZbKvYkTBySJmaUlqNJwlnM/w480-h640/IMG_20230629_124417_965-2Lavender%20Fields12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">At the next stop (next three photos) the different lavender varieties were labelled, which I found very useful. We had learned about the three different kinds of lavender used in perfume and cosmetic production - True (<i>Lavandula angustifolia</i>), Aspic (<i>L. latifolia</i>) and Lavandin (<i>L. x intermedia</i>), which is a hybrid of the two, at the lavender farm we visited the previous summer. Within each of these three there are different cultivars though, just to confuse us all. 😁 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The smaller lavender is usually the true lavender, <i>L. angustifolia</i>, like the following photo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">No butterflies in sight though, which was really disappointing. There had been dozens at the lavender farm the previous year in the Ardeche. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Yet another lavender farm - some had shops selling their own products. In a number of fields were women dressed up in pretty white summer dresses doing their best Instagram posing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">On this plateau there were two other plants which I assume are also used for the perfume or cosmetic trade, but I don't know what they are. I could only take photos as we were driving past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This looks like it might be Curry Plant (<i>Helichrysum italicum</i>), though that doesn't exactly smell nice, or perhaps Cotton Lavender (<i>Santolina</i>) which doesn't smell I don't think. Note the white dress!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After the plateau we passed Lac St Croix and headed down the Verdon gorge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We didn't see the best bits of the gorge as due to time constraints we took the shorter route and K and I had already done the longer one in October 2017 when the leaves were turning a lovely colour. Still, what we could see was quite stunning, though on this particular road there were fewer places to stop to take photos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We stopped for the night at Castellane, beyond the gorge but still on the river Verdon. We were to follow this river to near its source higher in the mountains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Castellane was a small town with an interesting rock towering over it, with a cross built right on the top. We had a walk around the town the next morning, but none of us fancied hiking up there! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">From here we headed north up the upper Verdon river valley through St Andre les Alpes, Colmars and Allos to Barcelonnette, via the Col d'Allos. The higher we went, the colder and cloudier it got, until we were up in the drizzle!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This road wasn't ideal in a motorhome, but we managed fine. I'm just glad we weren't coming down as it was rather narrow in places and might have set off my vertigo, which I have managed to quell quite well in recent years. When we reached the summit at 2,250m altitude it was really chilly with nothing to see as we were up in the clouds. So we headed on down to our campsite in Barcelonnette and hoped for fine weather for the next day, our really high altitude day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Part 3 and the famed Col de la Bonette to come!</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-19135917275508878432024-01-23T15:57:00.000+01:002024-01-23T15:57:47.352+01:00Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 1 The Luberon and a Puncture<span style="font-family: verdana;">Continuing our Provencal holiday last summer. I am trying my best to go through hundreds of photos and just pick out a few from each place of interest, but that's not easy, as in many places up in the mountains I took hundreds of photos with my phone as we were driving along!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The first place we went to was Gordes, in the Luberon. We've been before, but the town is so pretty so I wanted my brother to see it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The river beside the campsite. I was pleased to see everything looking nice and green, as we have only visited Provence previously in the autumn, when it was very dried out and brown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is an old photo of Gordes, as we couldn't get a parking spot at this viewpoint in June.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Somewhere we hadn't visited before in Gordes was the Bories Village. These were a group of 30 dry stone huts, which were restored over a period of ten years. Taken from <a href="https://www.avignon-et-provence.com/en/monuments/bories-village" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this website</a>: "The word "Borie", of Provençal origin, comes from the Latin "boaria" - oxen stable -, signifying a type of shed. The hut has always been an institution in Provence. First popping up in fields to house the peasants' tools, it became, as time passed, the little country house, done up, often in quite a rudimentary manner, to spend Sundays and holidays. The borie also permetted [<i>sic</i>] shepherds to shelter their flocks. To build them, our ancestors gathered the stones from the calcareous surroundings. They were just lying there for the taking."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There are many Roman ruins across southern France but also a number of intact bridges, still standing and some, like this one, still in use.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZsjeZhm376XcsBDJDgQDVRb-QAj_H8OKqfduR5qdzblMEyY2izIvMUJGSTyqSNbP79KQxmfgHnpcaq6xJiPghU9HWUZPhmkPwTrhxbbo37eMn_nu-hZVxri3MiD7wEH_s-SRadWonWWfKwYcd5DzWs8WLoLUEKFXndiCfyvkCz7SwdOOJLpmWEhW902M/s1500/M-Allen-20230626-1819Roman%20Bridge2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1500" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZsjeZhm376XcsBDJDgQDVRb-QAj_H8OKqfduR5qdzblMEyY2izIvMUJGSTyqSNbP79KQxmfgHnpcaq6xJiPghU9HWUZPhmkPwTrhxbbo37eMn_nu-hZVxri3MiD7wEH_s-SRadWonWWfKwYcd5DzWs8WLoLUEKFXndiCfyvkCz7SwdOOJLpmWEhW902M/w640-h360/M-Allen-20230626-1819Roman%20Bridge2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Still in the Luberon, we visited one of several former ochre mines, this one entitled the Colorado Provencal. I wore my trainers as I remembered having very orange feet the last time we went to one of these dusty places in sandals!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After leaving the Luberon the plan was to visit the lavender fields up on the Valensole plateau. We had seen some lavender fields in the Luberon, but they weren't in places where you could stop or get a good view. However, just as we were driving up the hill to the plateau, this happened. 😢</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, luckily the tyre blew just as we were going past a layby, so that was handy. However, was there a phone signal? Of course not! Eventually Keith had to walk a fair way down the hill to get a signal, and after finally getting through to the insurers, a breakdown truck was sent out. The mechanic wasn't able to find a moho tyre available at that moment, so after the fun side - getting Mary up some planks onto the ramp and seeing her lifted up onto the back of his truck (I feared for her here, looking top heavy but she was well secured) - we were taken back to the repair garage where they tried to source new tyres. Originally they had said it may take several days, but eventually two were found (we needed to change both front tyres) which could be delivered the following morning! Phew! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We were told that we could 'camp' in Mary for the night here, parked beside the garage. Malcolm was another matter though - he could hardly pitch his tent on the tarmac! So we found him a nice little hotel in the town which was a few minutes walk away, and which was covered by the insurance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Whilst hanging around with all this going on, I spotted this Mantis on the wall beside the garage. However it wasn't just an ordinary one like we see at home - it was a Conehead Mantis (<i>Empusa pennata</i>), which we have been really hoping to come across one day! It's a bit of a shame that try as I might I could not get his head in focus with my phone camera, but I didn't want to go and get my other camera as I knew he (or she) would disappear. Have a look at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empusa_pennata#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a>, as there are some amazing macros of them. If you think the 'ordinary' Praying Mantis is alien, then you should look at this one! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The little town where we found ourselves was Vinon-sur-Verdon, which was certainly not a bad place to find oneself stuck for the night. This is the Verdon river, which was divided into two beside the bridge here, one side being shallow and gravelly for families to sunbathe and young children to play in the water, and this other side with a slalom run for kayaks and older kids having fun in the deeper water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">So we made the most of being parked up in the middle of a little town by going out for dinner!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Part 2 to come soon!</span><br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-30095805064145893942024-01-10T16:14:00.001+01:002024-01-22T16:00:32.671+01:00Butterflies in Provence, June 2023<span style="font-family: verdana;">We're now going back to last summer, when we went to Provence in late June/July. Whilst I saw some great butterflies, of which seven were lifers (!), they weren't found all over the place. There would be a whole group of different species in one area, then nothing much in places I would have expected to see them, like wildflower meadows and lavender fields. You will see in some of the following photos the kind of habitat where I came across them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The first two were in the Luberon at one of the many former ochre mines. I would like to think this butterfly is Chapman's Blue (<i>Polyommatus thersites</i>). The main difference between this and the Common Blue is the lack of the second marking on the underside forewing in Chapman's. This in itself doesn't always mean it's a Chapman's, as it could be a Common Blue without this marking! But given that I saw a number of them on holiday then I am counting it as Chapman's - which makes it Lifer no. 1. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There were a few other interesting insects as well as butterflies of course. I think this bug is a Red Assassin Bug (<i>Rhynocoris iracundus</i>). I didn't have my SX50 with me as I was taking photos of scenery where we were, so I don't have macros of this and the following butterflies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Lifer no. 2 is this handsome False Ilex Hairstreak (<i>Satyrium esculi</i>), a butterfly of hot dry scrubland of southern France, Iberia and north Africa, where the larvae feed on Holm and Kermes Oaks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Some days later going high up in the mountains near Barcelonette, on a rather chilly day, I came across a group of butterflies puddling. Not interested in the wild flowers, but just in this stony patch by the side of the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't know if these skippers are Southern Grizzled Skippers (<i>Pyrgus malvoides</i>) or Alpine Grizzled Skippers (<i>Pyrgus andromedae</i>), which both look alike to me. This spot was at 1,950m altitude and both butterflies can be found in habitat like this. Either way, they count as Lifer no. 3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Also amongst these puddling skippers were several Mazarine Blues (<i>Cyaniris semiargus</i>) and a Common Blue (<i>Polyommatus icarus</i>) on the right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I was pleased to also see a number of Small Blues (<i>Cupido minimus</i>). In the picture below, the top left and bottom butterflies are Mazarine Blues, the middle small one is a Small Blue, and the other on the right, I'm not sure! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Moving further south to lower altitude at about 500m: on a walk from our campsite to the village of Entrevaux on a rocky path above the Var river, we encountered this Clubtail dragonfly - the Green-eyed Hook-tailed or Small Pincertail Dragonfly (<i>Onychogomphus forcipatus</i>). It is mostly found around rivers with stony or gravel banks. <br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Just outside the village was this butterfly on a rock. It confused me at first, then I realised it was a Comma. But every time I looked at the photo it puzzled me as it just didn't look right. On further delving into 'pale coloured Commas' I discovered it's actually a Southern Comma (<i>Polygonia egea</i>), which I didn't even know existed! Yet another lifer then, no. 4. This species prefers perching on rocks in hot dry places which is quite different from the regular Comma, and is found from South Eastern France through Italy and the Balkans to Greece.<br />
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One of the places we stopped which you would imagine would be full of butterflies. But - no. <br />
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At a layby near Mons in the Alpes-Maritimes at about 1,100m altitude, with a nice muddy puddle, that's where, again, I found many butterflies! This is an Essex Skipper (<i>Thymelicus lineola</i>).<br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Another lifer, no. 5, a False Heath Fritillary (<i>Melitaea diamina</i>). These butterflies inhabit damp flowery meadows, woodland margins and rides from low to alpine levels up to 2200m.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I suddenly noticed something brown moving - and knew what it was immediately. A Nettle Tree butterfly (<i>Libythea celtis</i>)! Click on the photo to see it larger, as it has a snout! It's not an easy butterfly to photograph when it's against mud. My sixth lifer of the trip. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I've saved the best for last. In this same patch of mud was a butterfly that I have wanted to see for a long time. Can you guess why? It's the Amanda's Blue (<i>Polyommatus amandus</i>)! I didn't even know what it was at the time, just snapped away, and was sooooo excited when I ID'd it. My namesake made it the seventh lifer of our holiday. 😁 Amanda's Blue is usually found at an altitude of at least 1,000m and inhabits meadows, heaths, grassland and roadsides across much of central and northern Europe, and feeds on various Vetches.</span><br />
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It's occurred to me that nearly every time I have seen butterflies puddling, it has been at altitude. Better minerals in the rocks in the mountains? It wasn't a lack of flowers, certainly. Food for thought!<br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Other butterflies noted - all these seen at yet another layby at under 1,000m, although flitting around the flowers in this place:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Great Banded Grayling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Meadow Brown</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Scarce Swallowtail</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Cleopatra</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Brimstone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Clouded Yellow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Small Heath</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Small White?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">False Ilex Hairstreak (again)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Southern White Admiral</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Marbled White </span><br />
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So all in all, despite only seeing butterflies of note in about five or six different places during a two week trip, the species encountered were rather special! 😀💜</span>
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<br /></span>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-32205756351661752492024-01-04T14:11:00.000+01:002024-01-04T14:11:58.497+01:00Our first visit to Narbonne<span style="font-family: verdana;">Can you believe we have lived here for four years now and hadn't visited the main towns for our and our neighbouring departments? Up until now that is, when we decided it was about time we went to see Narbonne! We were lucky that it coincided with the Christmas decorations, which were done extremely well and were fun to see, adding to a thoroughly enjoyable day out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There's plenty to see in Narbonne, which is only a smallish town (pop. about 53,000). It has a lot of Roman history so there is a large museum representing the town as it was during those times, which we will go to another time, plus another out of town Roman pottery production site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We found free parking by the Canal de la Robine, only a short walk from the covered market, les Halles, which we headed to first.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The covered market, called Les Halles, built of steel and glass in the Baltard style have been open every day for the last 112 years! It was a busy place and jam packed around the eateries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The fish and shellfish stalls interested me the most. I have never seen such a display of different sized prawns, lobsters, crayfish and shellfish before, nor have I ever seen such high prices! They can surely only sell to Michelin starred restaurants and billionaires!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Outside the market was a fun fair, making photography of the market building a bit challenging. It was nicely scenic having the canal in the middle of the town, and you can just see in the bottom left photo (click to make it bigger) that there is a lock there in the centre of town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">It was a mild day so we actually ate outside and were quite warm in the sun. This is the third Christmas-time out of four that my brother has brought us a warm day for eating outdoors! The fourth missed year was when he couldn't come at the last minute due to covid restrictions, not due to the weather.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This bridge below is the 'Pont des Marchands', a bridge with shops on it. A bit of a shame that the buildings look very modernised as the bridge itself dates back to the Roman era, when the river Aude actually flowed through here. Now the other spans of the bridge have disappeared into the adjoining buildings which have of course changed over the centuries. The water level, due to the locks, is also several metres higher than it would have been which hides more of the bridge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The gothic front facade of the Palais des Archevêques or Bishops' Palace, with the keep on the left hand side covered in wonderful decorations! The Palace contains two museums which we didn't have time to visit, maybe one day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Where the red platform is located is where a portion of the ancient Roman road the Via Domitia has been excavated and left open for everyone to see. This ancient road linked Italy to Spain. It was a shame we couldn't see it, but we will be back to visit the Roman museum so we can see it then. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">On the left below is the entrance to the Pont des Marchands. There are some fabulous buildings in central Narbonne - I am particularly fond of the style with the decorative metal balconies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">From here on my phone battery got very low so the following photos are all Keith's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After lunch we headed for the Horreum, an existing part of the Roman city. Horreum means warehouses or grainstores in Latin, and these underground tunnels and store rooms have survived largely intact, in fact were in private use for centuries so not really properly discovered and studied until the 20th century. They were classed as a Historic Monument in 1961 and opened to the public in 1976.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The map below shows the outline of the Roman city over the present day town of Narbonne, with the forum in red and the Horreum being the L shaped thing beneath it. The Pont des Marchands is the bridge shown spanning the Aude river, which is now the Canal de la Robine. Presumably the river was rerouted down another branch of it when the canal was created, as it no longer flows near Narbonne.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After this we visited the medieval cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne) which is tall from the outside, but you don't notice just how astonishingly tall it is until you go inside... and strain your neck looking up! It was quite incredible. Also I have never seen a church or cathedral laid out in the same way - we could walk around the outside of the interior walls but there was another interior wall where the main part with all the seating was. A number of people including children were being blessed (or whatever, I'm not Catholic so don't know about these things) so it was a busy old place with plenty of priests and worshippers as well as tourists all mingling around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">View of the cathedral from the cloisters which adjoin the Bishops' Palace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Then in a courtyard between the cathedral and the Bishops' Palace we came across this frame where you could get your picture taken. I had to drag my brother into the frame though!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The fun fair was coming to life on our way back to the car but no, we were not interested in having a ride on it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I was really quite surprised that Narbonne was as beautiful and interesting as it was as I hadn't known anything much about the town. We have now made a New Year's resolution to visit Beziers (Herault dept) and Perpignan (Pyrenees-Orientales dept) this year as well!</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-13784988698426967682023-12-24T16:30:00.000+01:002023-12-24T16:30:23.601+01:00Merry Christmas!<span style="font-family: verdana;">Wishing you all a wonderful time over the festive season, and all the best for the New Year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">As promised, a few pictures of the decoupaged baubles on the tree. It’s only a small tree, but it’s amazing how many decorations are needed on even the three sides here - I’m thinking of doing some more baubles like this for next year, as the darker decs don’t show up very well against a dark tree.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I also need to get a larger decoration for the top of the tree - my little angel has always been fine on mini, table-top trees but looks a bit lost here! 😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">See you next year! xx</span><br />
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Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-19652245301583189142023-12-15T17:40:00.000+01:002023-12-15T17:40:47.103+01:00Painting and crafting<span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m not lost in Spain somewhere! We came home at the end of October, and whilst the weather had been good here for most of the month (our housesitter got to enjoy the pool for most of her time here), it changed as soon as we got home. I hate November with a vengeance, so after ploughing through the holiday laundry and emptying the Moho, I decided to get stuck into something that I would enjoy so as not to get the winter blues. So I headed down to the basement guest room and painted the wardrobe the same as I’d done the chest of drawers next to it a couple of years ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Obviously it hasn’t taken me all of this time 😄 but there’s a lot to do with two coats of paint, two coats of clear wax, dark wax in the nooks and crannies, and buffing in between. I then decided to paint the inside of the doors and do something interesting for when you open the doors. So that meant most of those coats again! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here’s a reminder of what they originally looked like. I hate wooden drawer knobs like that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Ok, time for the reveal……</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here’s what I did with the interior (and ignore all the stuff in there, I have to find space for Moho things during winter). This isn’t an interiors blog, so I don’t have to ‘stage’ perfectly.</span> 😁😁😁<br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">It’s Annie Sloan’s ‘Meadow Flowers’ stencil, which fits this space perfectly. I’ve been waiting to use it on something for a while now!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Then I came across decoupaged baubles, coincidentally in two different places at about the same time, Pinterest and a blog I follow. We have some old red baubles which I never use, as red is not a colour I like as a Xmas decoration - it’s all blue and gold here to go with my decor. So I was interested to have a bash, though it’s taken longer than I thought as painting then decoupaging on brittle round things is jolly hard - I have to do half or a third then wait for it to dry before carrying on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I am now running out of time before my brother comes on Monday, as I’m having a week full of medical/dental appointments, plus we went out birding on Tues afternoon (Black-shouldered Kites! I’ll tell you about them after Christmas). I need to finish cleaning the guest room and then get the decs up. Then baking next week! Anyhow, this year we bought a real tree for a change, so I’m looking forward to seeing these baubles on the tree along with the other ones. I’ll post a photo when the tree is done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here’s the baubles just needing a final coat of glossy varnish:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb3Ub35iiYogv5bOp7mCAAgR0-oKLlqgiyeI6718LXVZvNFc48jJrUdL1dQQbfKsKdvp2IAaGkRIHNI3mX946EpU-tG9wQwDFfHXMVEwL0mfvVwfA6Eylkw-j37SzCcQrF4ZrIsn3l5v8GSjHXqDDnNBRd81n5OBfmYKSM4CFORkP10JDewhp4xA-U1M/s4608/28E251C9-5F77-4549-BE98-D2310A849F0D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb3Ub35iiYogv5bOp7mCAAgR0-oKLlqgiyeI6718LXVZvNFc48jJrUdL1dQQbfKsKdvp2IAaGkRIHNI3mX946EpU-tG9wQwDFfHXMVEwL0mfvVwfA6Eylkw-j37SzCcQrF4ZrIsn3l5v8GSjHXqDDnNBRd81n5OBfmYKSM4CFORkP10JDewhp4xA-U1M/w640-h480/28E251C9-5F77-4549-BE98-D2310A849F0D.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I’ll get back to butterflies and birds from our travels this year during the new year, and catch up with your posts too. When I’m not in the mood for blogging, I tend to forget about looking at other peoples’ blogs too. Receiving them in my inbox is an easier way to follow them, to be honest.</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-22479055419807916942023-10-10T14:56:00.000+02:002023-10-10T14:56:28.926+02:00I found some Wasp Spider egg sacs!<span style="font-family: verdana;">Hola from Spain!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We are at the beginning of a three week trip to Extremadura and Andalusia, mixing birding with Moorish architecture and Roman ruins and anything else we find of interest. So I will probably be rather quiet where posts are concerned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the meantime, as I don’t have hundreds of photos to go through as we are just en route at the moment, I thought I’d do a quick post from my iPad showing you the egg sacs I found. I had been hoping to find some, but I hadn’t looked up what they look like, which helps. I was amazed - they are a real work of art. A Greek urn, is how I’ve seen them described. And they are big! I think the description of hen egg size might be a bit misleading but they are certainly a good 2cm - 2.5cms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">It took a while to find one, but after the first I found three more. They make them close to where their webs are. Not necessarily on vegetation either, as my friend Andrea in Germany also had a Wasp Spider in her garden. However when she finally found the egg sac, it was actually attached to the wall behind the shrub where the web had been. And - biggest surprise of all - there were two egg sacs! Now I hadn’t read that they can make two egg sacs, but I did then wonder about my ‘big girl’, who had disappeared for a few days earlier on, then came back with a fresh web looking a bit slimmer. And then it happened again. So after she was gone for good, I had another look through the Valerian, and sure enough, there was a second egg sac!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I will be having a good look through the ditch when we get home, as sadly all the spiders had gone by early October. I miss them!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOQPbxbJKUJJoH8HRP9-9Ov9yo5_3yeHEVJ4XnlpodqRI2i155tisGi8CUzzuPb1kMZrp1voM1X6_f-KVM686z_qhpRJusPInruKtKpVt6pKI6JtAxeeSe7DgtJpCGGHlqvaD-aI20Vur2iS6BtESkxDfmGxkMwgCuuN_UNYUx100QwWLfjvWaRbDa18/s2048/F190C1A0-0DE1-44B9-AA8A-A5F3F2704F03.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOQPbxbJKUJJoH8HRP9-9Ov9yo5_3yeHEVJ4XnlpodqRI2i155tisGi8CUzzuPb1kMZrp1voM1X6_f-KVM686z_qhpRJusPInruKtKpVt6pKI6JtAxeeSe7DgtJpCGGHlqvaD-aI20Vur2iS6BtESkxDfmGxkMwgCuuN_UNYUx100QwWLfjvWaRbDa18/w480-h640/F190C1A0-0DE1-44B9-AA8A-A5F3F2704F03.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-79917328604430281062023-09-18T15:03:00.000+02:002023-09-18T15:03:19.548+02:00The Valley du Galbe revisited<span style="font-family: verdana;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Below on the left is a really attractive Pink - <i>Dianthus hyssopifolius</i> 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.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyGJs0YGsclFdPySRwBI99GGsS-lIbMUCWU5_guwGHrURVJHSNkIzldB3jYyGmxDZXaiT_B-CuRsgq9_fNk2Mv0zkiPcC8v2KhSGThO7gxGffYso9ntGysreuOUgJtvvD2WJMGG_UZJ7Rs2JNtxCZyDowRmVEMQPC-uyEx_WwnOoISVP96t19wy2tlZE/s1200/Wildflowers%20Galbe%20Collage-2Wildflowers%20Galbe%20Collage%20Watermarked2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyGJs0YGsclFdPySRwBI99GGsS-lIbMUCWU5_guwGHrURVJHSNkIzldB3jYyGmxDZXaiT_B-CuRsgq9_fNk2Mv0zkiPcC8v2KhSGThO7gxGffYso9ntGysreuOUgJtvvD2WJMGG_UZJ7Rs2JNtxCZyDowRmVEMQPC-uyEx_WwnOoISVP96t19wy2tlZE/w640-h640/Wildflowers%20Galbe%20Collage-2Wildflowers%20Galbe%20Collage%20Watermarked2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 (<i>Thymelicus lineola</i>) but it is hard to tell.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaBw4tyX4M2KaqGOFkMxj8tlGcBm6gM8a40MD6R73T0r5GWY70OcQ964ha-Eu-k68ltAWIoApnoRD7--4PJVAdMgqqv17wcag2yX6vmmSCKXOjk-BjOxNHli_1nr5ophXS56TzZ-SwU_8fWo5eBuZdCjXUR4QCmIETs6_P0hGU2erppl1GwDmX9zTCsg/s1500/M-Allen-20230809-2505Essex%20Skippers%20mating2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaBw4tyX4M2KaqGOFkMxj8tlGcBm6gM8a40MD6R73T0r5GWY70OcQ964ha-Eu-k68ltAWIoApnoRD7--4PJVAdMgqqv17wcag2yX6vmmSCKXOjk-BjOxNHli_1nr5ophXS56TzZ-SwU_8fWo5eBuZdCjXUR4QCmIETs6_P0hGU2erppl1GwDmX9zTCsg/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230809-2505Essex%20Skippers%20mating2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">In this picture I believe the top photo is a Small Skipper (<i>Thymelicus sylvestris</i>) (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).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">However I have no clue what this interesting moth is! I saw a couple of them, buried into flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 (<i>Melitaea phoebe</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This was the best picture I could get of this Queen of Spain Fritillary (<i>Issoria lathonia</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 (<i>Speyeria aglaja</i>) which I have only seen once before in the Eyne Valley, which is not too far away from here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And this is a lifer! The High Brown Fritillary (<i>Fabriciana adippe</i>). Now what was I saying about annoying blades of grass - or stems - in the way?! 😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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! 😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">As far as blues went, it was all about this silvery blue one - the Chalkhill Blue (<i>Lysandra coridon</i>)! 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.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 (<i>Lampides boeticus</i>) 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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Back near the car park is the picnic area in the shade beside the stream. I was amazed to see lots of white <i>Astrantia major</i> flowering, as I'm used to it as a garden plant. With it is this pretty wild Lettuce (<i>Latuca</i> sp.) and the pink flower - see below. Also lots of the <i>Dianthus hyssopifolius</i> was flowering in the heavy shade too and didn't seem to mind sun or shade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 <i>Knautia dipsacifolia. </i>On the left is <i>Aconitum</i> sp., commonly known as Monkshood or Wolfsbane, amongst other names.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Well the stream was certainly a lot calmer than it had been in mid June!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking in the other direction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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</span>. 😁<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWgRspE2wEgmz3E_jnP-JObogX0V2ucFTvBrWkt8Q_j0KJGfANoF8MBqX0jNa7wGMH2X2WJXzQRPc9ix5t10xOFLdvok9tjaiK8Lk4z9Ugib6iP-VmV7XfzAWTyY8xCRLegAGnDUxSkSnjaT8wQ8Fq8RVCZyEIZbLJIZFU6uKIFVNaRPX88-migJItRI/s2000/M-Allen-20230809-2566Railleu2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWgRspE2wEgmz3E_jnP-JObogX0V2ucFTvBrWkt8Q_j0KJGfANoF8MBqX0jNa7wGMH2X2WJXzQRPc9ix5t10xOFLdvok9tjaiK8Lk4z9Ugib6iP-VmV7XfzAWTyY8xCRLegAGnDUxSkSnjaT8wQ8Fq8RVCZyEIZbLJIZFU6uKIFVNaRPX88-migJItRI/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230809-2566Railleu2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">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. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The highlight though was this Crag Martin (<i>Ptyonoprogne rupestris</i> - 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! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">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 <i>Dianthus balbisii </i>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!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgs0fZQ1rc1H6-1BvBQ9xUbFnHHQJemytBDkEVNJqYA2ExaK8JL6ZEGuZ_tL_L2U2gQkUNyh8zkiFAP0Y6GfUmzN3OFEk09rzqhKSVvQR7OO_fn55KPoS00-wP23m2a5xczHbQTRgd-B-5xl7JX21svvT-wtjCSLm2YFO-Mzu4FJUSDOeq4pHk5lpIQA/s1500/M-Allen-20230809-2593Dianthus2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgs0fZQ1rc1H6-1BvBQ9xUbFnHHQJemytBDkEVNJqYA2ExaK8JL6ZEGuZ_tL_L2U2gQkUNyh8zkiFAP0Y6GfUmzN3OFEk09rzqhKSVvQR7OO_fn55KPoS00-wP23m2a5xczHbQTRgd-B-5xl7JX21svvT-wtjCSLm2YFO-Mzu4FJUSDOeq4pHk5lpIQA/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230809-2593Dianthus2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">All in all just as interesting here in summer as spring. </span><br />
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Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-64579848887595634572023-09-01T15:33:00.000+02:002023-09-01T15:33:55.277+02:00Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc Part 4<span style="font-family: verdana;">On our last day, after seeing the Marmots, we set off into the hills, towards the village of Railleu. On the way, we stopped beside some valleys to look at the wildflowers and also to check for Red-backed Shrikes, which had been spotted here before. I don't have any photos as it was distant, but we did get to see one through a scope!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Whilst the birders were finding birds for us, those of us who were interested in other things had a good look around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Glanville Fritillary (<i>Melitaea cinxia</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm pretty sure this is an Adonis Blue (<i>Polyommatus bellargus</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmBpa1OJ-WNekQwB0Dll0SCh-GWzzV7Sf3BrpDGslLHmONjkM_8JCFFeWGmqxFpdCVjw94jEakH3lA4ehm7TvaJ2WwWk_3wSYEG38DU50GvxXf216VHZkmhYVV-n1hzpe2G7i6woK8-ZcSG-NY-aR_mj35aDDYwe30QUJJxg7gJmH7raDXgAbdkCvyyU/s1500/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1737Adonis%20Blue2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmBpa1OJ-WNekQwB0Dll0SCh-GWzzV7Sf3BrpDGslLHmONjkM_8JCFFeWGmqxFpdCVjw94jEakH3lA4ehm7TvaJ2WwWk_3wSYEG38DU50GvxXf216VHZkmhYVV-n1hzpe2G7i6woK8-ZcSG-NY-aR_mj35aDDYwe30QUJJxg7gJmH7raDXgAbdkCvyyU/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1737Adonis%20Blue2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a tiny broom growing out of a rock bank, called the Winged Broom (<i>Genista sagittalis</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX34PWSVUSW6iEbxzyD3YEaaneR_bv60lPsBphP0Xg0R603rfnD6fMakE4JzsBCL_h_MHkBT-3uHFMmsj17-q0JdXIOFCUe-OKYRKX_RZlW3AZrA0reW866PcoyaxbJU-JIRTUe-IPrfiQ32K0_RDJdXFbsIJZqKzJ1Lmq3KVshc0MFW0NGPRLHL0C-zM/s1500/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1752Winged%20Broom3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX34PWSVUSW6iEbxzyD3YEaaneR_bv60lPsBphP0Xg0R603rfnD6fMakE4JzsBCL_h_MHkBT-3uHFMmsj17-q0JdXIOFCUe-OKYRKX_RZlW3AZrA0reW866PcoyaxbJU-JIRTUe-IPrfiQ32K0_RDJdXFbsIJZqKzJ1Lmq3KVshc0MFW0NGPRLHL0C-zM/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1752Winged%20Broom3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">We stopped for a wander around the village of Railleu, a pretty little place perched on a rocky hillside. When a group had been here the year before (later on in June) on a butterfly trip, they had seen dozens of butterflies of about 20 different species, but not so when we were there! It was a nice place to wander around anyway, admiring both the wildflowers and the little gardens beside the pretty stone houses and church.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Houseleeks (<i>Sempervivum</i>) growing on the rocks, the host plant of the Apollo butterfly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We ate our picnic lunch at Railleu and then our group split up as it was the end of our trip. Keith and I weren't ready to go home though; as we were already up in the mountains it would have been crazy not to take advantage of it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">So after lunch we headed off to Lac de Bouillouses which is a large lake at 2,000m altitude. It was busy though - hardly any room left to park and people everywhere! It came as a bit of a shock after our quiet couple of days. In the summer they run a shuttle bus up here from a large car park about 10km away which is very sensible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There were lots of horses wandering around too, including a number of cute foals. We also bumped into Niall beside the lake, who had had the same idea as us! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">rather alpine </span>looking hotel, with lots of yellow broom in the foreground. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">These heavy horses look very much like Bretons to me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">As we were walking around the path, some Citril Finches (<i>Carduelis citrinella</i>) came to land on the grass right near us. I took photos zooming in as I clicked, but most annoyingly some people walked around the corner and scared them off. Grrrr!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here we were able to see the Alpenrose (<i>Rhododendron ferrugineum</i>) close up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">As the track beside the lake turned rather rocky we decided to give it a miss and stopped at a few places downstream of the River Tet, which isn't much of a river at this point as it is regulated by the barrage at the Lac de Bouillouses, though it becomes one of the major rivers in the Pyrenees Orientales dept when it gets down to the plain near Perpignan. We once stayed at a campsite beside this stream in an environment just like this. I think it was one of our most favourite campsites. It was a shame that the grass had all been grazed here too so there were hardly any wild flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Before we got back to a main road, I stopped for a 'comfort break' in a field. I was admiring the nice field margin of wildflowers before the wheat crop started, then noticed the flowers amongst the wheat. I was amazed - this is the first time I have ever seen traditional cornfield flowers growing in amongst crops, like they would have done before agricultural modernisation and herbicides. Here there is a Corncockle (pink), a Cornflower (blue) and some Poppies, which are also sometimes known an Corn Poppies. For any readers who are not British, wheat (or other grain crops) fields used to be called 'corn fields', as an individual grain itself was known as a corn. Agricultural corn is known as maize by the way, though the eating kind is 'corn on the cob' or 'sweetcorn'. Therefore the common names for the flowers that traditionally grew amongst grain crops have the prefix of 'Corn'. Sadly no Corn Marigolds here though!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I also took a picture of this Cranesbill Geranium which PlantNet tells me is <i>Geranium pyrenaicum</i> (pyrenaicum = of the Pyrenees), though there is something strange about the petals - either munched by an insect or deformed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And that, my friends, is the end of our two day Escapade, as we called it, up into the mountains! Combining my three loves of birds, butterflies and wildflowers, it was just perfect and I hope that more trips like this will be run in the future. I am sure there will be as the trip was a huge success amongst all those who went. 💕</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-28562894088100247842023-08-21T14:58:00.000+02:002023-08-21T14:58:20.440+02:00Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc Part 3<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>If you received an email from me via follow.it and it had a heading paragraph in German which you ignored, it was en error on their part. What the paragraph which starts with "Sie erhalten diese Email, weil der Feed-Inhaber angegeben hat dass sie den Chateau Moorhen..... goes south!", actually says is "You are receiving this email because the feed owner has indicated that they have the Chateau Moorhen..... goes south! already subscribed in some other way. Please confirm this is correct and you wish to receive the content by clicking here or opt-out if you no longer wish to receive it." Therefore if you still wish to follow Chateau Moorhen then you need to click on the text highlighted in green ("bestätigen Sie, dass dies korrekt ist und Sie den Inhalt erhalten möchten, indem Sie hier klicken") on the original email which will confirm your subscription. Thank you.</i></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">On the afternoon of day 2 we visited Lac de Balcere. Unfortunately we didn't see the dozens of dragonflies that had been seen here the previous year (a few weeks later) but the wild flowers made up for it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking up on the rocks we spotted some interesting lilies and a few of our group climbed up to explore, but rock climbing isn't my forte! I relied on my zoom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">They are yellow Turk's Cap or Martagon Lilies (<i>Lilium pyrenaicum</i>), native to mountain areas, mostly in the Pyrenees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We found a few more orchids near the lake edge - this is the Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid (<i>Dactylorhiza majalis</i>) that we had seen in the damp meadows of the Vallée du Galbe..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This was a lovely find, shining brightly all on its own near the lake edge. It's Pyrenean Pasque Flower (<i>Pulsatilla alpina subsp. apiifolia</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURi8h0IB7ed0Kv0t-6iC3llOUSbQ1yKf1aOVpz5Uoe_F6gIIJqtzKYrQhyvzit7bRkVHtXym5G-lNudhLwU0PBviNmxrAgv-_OHk-j26bwAmf5Pc1mCWWrfXbJaZvZdR1q_GEX4kDmDWKaETyty7Nt3bYVy2LnlM_JYz4TWGPsja-9HEK8vmZzngbZQk/s2000/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1672Wildflowers32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURi8h0IB7ed0Kv0t-6iC3llOUSbQ1yKf1aOVpz5Uoe_F6gIIJqtzKYrQhyvzit7bRkVHtXym5G-lNudhLwU0PBviNmxrAgv-_OHk-j26bwAmf5Pc1mCWWrfXbJaZvZdR1q_GEX4kDmDWKaETyty7Nt3bYVy2LnlM_JYz4TWGPsja-9HEK8vmZzngbZQk/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1672Wildflowers32.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">We found another orchid after doing the loop of the lake - this one is either the Heath Spotted (<i>Dactylorhiza maculata</i>) or the Common Spotted Orchid (<i>Dactylorhiza fuchsii</i>), probably the latter.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ESCuLsckq_7DWQlEVnJRnRn6NybSU2dOrhwCx0-SoKGRU5785AFvwrMv2yPCB3b7yIsPgPX6MO0S5-gydeTDqk2Vz0SpQL4LaK35HrMs5ccKHBx9RTNksujL0aN-pyBtrRTdOouhpY_2KQDM4OLeoJ4YGVNCr5Gxk7q798qJRrYwLjga6IPZ_0z-JQ/s2000/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1680Orchids22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ESCuLsckq_7DWQlEVnJRnRn6NybSU2dOrhwCx0-SoKGRU5785AFvwrMv2yPCB3b7yIsPgPX6MO0S5-gydeTDqk2Vz0SpQL4LaK35HrMs5ccKHBx9RTNksujL0aN-pyBtrRTdOouhpY_2KQDM4OLeoJ4YGVNCr5Gxk7q798qJRrYwLjga6IPZ_0z-JQ/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1680Orchids22.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is the gite that we stayed at, <a href="https://maisonsarda.com/maison-sarda/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maison Sarda</a> in the tiny village of Espousouille. The rooms were basic but comfy and most had en suite bathrooms, although some were with compost toilets. The price was incredibly cheap - 66 Euros for half board, with a delicious three course evening meal!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHIb5IcCulbBibyhqoKidl4RXfurKXyddubM0aq8RJKF7Jt1YXHAL89715guLeGSVDPplaV1_pdx_4bNGo-K5W2uvdktnGpzxtWjsY6NpwgZYKgifyNACll-fsYTn-GrOwEmX5huCNhjVwd6eHqNrOve24jqzHPVTYIk2DJLk1AONKqzX9wdRTDcKSnE/s2000/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1683Maison%20de%20Sarda2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHIb5IcCulbBibyhqoKidl4RXfurKXyddubM0aq8RJKF7Jt1YXHAL89715guLeGSVDPplaV1_pdx_4bNGo-K5W2uvdktnGpzxtWjsY6NpwgZYKgifyNACll-fsYTn-GrOwEmX5huCNhjVwd6eHqNrOve24jqzHPVTYIk2DJLk1AONKqzX9wdRTDcKSnE/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1683Maison%20de%20Sarda2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">On our last morning we went for a short walk along the road as we'd been told that a group of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_marmot" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marmots (<i>Marmota marmota</i>)</a> were living in the dry stone walls. Luck was with us and we saw a few of them - a first for K and me! Alpine Marmots are large ground-dwelling squirrels which were reintroduced to the Pyrenees in 1948 as they disappeared after the Pleistocene epoch (according to Wikipedia). They live up in the mountains where they sleep in burrows, and hibernate during the winter.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3J7r4snEqoM7oXG2rQRHLhXugvjjLmmh7uKhSTCHrTACe-eHvHit8O2ZeNXb93Uu3n3MB43z2CZihRgiNUutMSmTayI7jxt4KFGRwVs5GJ-quM_vFPXj3ic-_SnrrBTYfE6A17BYurulbYmgdE8k3ePrg-C7CvUpZmGlB1yl-1czEyxINeKXOpx8noe4/s1500/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1708Marmot2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3J7r4snEqoM7oXG2rQRHLhXugvjjLmmh7uKhSTCHrTACe-eHvHit8O2ZeNXb93Uu3n3MB43z2CZihRgiNUutMSmTayI7jxt4KFGRwVs5GJ-quM_vFPXj3ic-_SnrrBTYfE6A17BYurulbYmgdE8k3ePrg-C7CvUpZmGlB1yl-1czEyxINeKXOpx8noe4/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230616%20Galbe-1708Marmot2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The rest of the day will be in a final post as there would be too many photos otherwise!</span><br />
<br /></span>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-56978111812053472742023-08-16T17:55:00.000+02:002023-08-16T17:55:50.672+02:00It's a good year for the Wasp Spider<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i>If you are receiving this via email, please accept my apologies for the lack of posts in recent months. Please read the end of this blog where I explain.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Our first summer here I found three Wasp Spiders (<i>Argiope bruennichi</i>) in the garden, but since then, nothing. Imagine my surprise when deadheading in the Nectar Bar to realise I was disturbing a huge Wasp Spider! I then discovered one in the herb garden that same day, and in the last few days have been finding more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In all I have counted 14 in our garden! Most are in the ditch between our property and the gardens on the hillside next to us. The ditch is for run off during heavy rainfall, but is a godsend for wildlife as it's full of wildflowers and is just a wild jungle really, so a good place for creatures to hide from predators. Unless you are a pollinating insect, and the whole ditch has become one big Wasp Spider hang out! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqNMN570MjTQI_7bA-Th7lS-T0FS02fhUjl8cD0Q1NvDSBb9qHTyZjaNeuT84-Gf0lts7qRm5ZITtoSJxerGB0-UcEaRCp0j9rmcM2Q7-TdcqWw6HFLnsQ4a77Bt3WfAhggG-5VQtJCEz77_2GqGPy6jj1gzItcRqBw6i7pjBqCkykk1luu0ujZ1Cdh8/s1500/M-Allen-20230807-1080290Wasp%20Spider52.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqNMN570MjTQI_7bA-Th7lS-T0FS02fhUjl8cD0Q1NvDSBb9qHTyZjaNeuT84-Gf0lts7qRm5ZITtoSJxerGB0-UcEaRCp0j9rmcM2Q7-TdcqWw6HFLnsQ4a77Bt3WfAhggG-5VQtJCEz77_2GqGPy6jj1gzItcRqBw6i7pjBqCkykk1luu0ujZ1Cdh8/w640-h640/M-Allen-20230807-1080290Wasp%20Spider52.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This spider above has a stabilimentum (the zigzag decoration) on its web, but I noticed that most of them don't. It could be that the stabilimentum has been disturbed by the amount of wind we get. The first spider that I found had its stabilimentum disturbed by me and whilst the spider eventually respun a great new web, it didn't bother with this part of it. A bit puzzling! However it's not known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilimentum" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">what purpose the stabilimentum actually serves</a> though there are several hypotheses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Below is the one I first found in my Valerian in the Nectar Bar. It's one of the biggest, though they really range in size even in a small area like my garden. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1HRi2eqqHGS6x-VCHERul7BSm5OV4lV9zBoO_nW86KV7uShMhqMA5YJgbWt2evwrw4V8tLxuU3pRFh_GEZW3wwsEaR90bHZ1y248rnCRz8avE-tX8ustF8jm6l06L-jpsFQOSiyEwL9T93owyKCT_F9zZt2y6i0FRE9OOZFiituXV4g1NwP36ss3c-cs/s2000/M-Allen-20230802-2353Wasp%20Spider2-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1HRi2eqqHGS6x-VCHERul7BSm5OV4lV9zBoO_nW86KV7uShMhqMA5YJgbWt2evwrw4V8tLxuU3pRFh_GEZW3wwsEaR90bHZ1y248rnCRz8avE-tX8ustF8jm6l06L-jpsFQOSiyEwL9T93owyKCT_F9zZt2y6i0FRE9OOZFiituXV4g1NwP36ss3c-cs/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230802-2353Wasp%20Spider2-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The following two are taken showing the underside of the spider.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifA9xKmodXkwGWv__glSw_aqJJYStMeEvp8sJrLRjcVpocj10lEZM1JTs_v9sP6KSnBrMVSAl1auMLp9BHAk1gyt3fLMklAb8_ZYOMqAElLFPIGLEDi_ddLRq9rAfbFaO-d5kg16zYkuIV-9EucioqU7FTDxkddZeEgqXB85frHN5Rx3zhqxs6Nrky2cA/s1500/M-Allen-20230807-1080261Wasp%20Spider32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifA9xKmodXkwGWv__glSw_aqJJYStMeEvp8sJrLRjcVpocj10lEZM1JTs_v9sP6KSnBrMVSAl1auMLp9BHAk1gyt3fLMklAb8_ZYOMqAElLFPIGLEDi_ddLRq9rAfbFaO-d5kg16zYkuIV-9EucioqU7FTDxkddZeEgqXB85frHN5Rx3zhqxs6Nrky2cA/w426-h640/M-Allen-20230807-1080261Wasp%20Spider32.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This one has a juicy fly or bee wrapped up in silk, or, quite possibly, her mate! I have noticed in one photo I took of this spider, three males hanging around the outside of her web. What's wrapped up is stripy though, and the males are rather brown looking and much less decorative, not to mention a lot smaller. You can see a picture of a male and a female together <a href="https://alexhyde.photoshelter.com/image/I0000nJuv6T8EYXM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiX8fDetsLj9dgl2T9FpHtgB0Gbm_9IZ4pOwGncIDo0986quqZxuVkuF7c6TyTQ7Ud2Dbg0ZNr7EIT1vNLjie_MInvFKR-A4N17btsJzrH-TyvOhnKcZDvgw6hBFrRR-5MPlqCN0oFzA0D-8I_-rqy4i-cnbC5eyCh2rlr8VYql9KYgu4b5_uG_KQyqVA/s1500/M-Allen-20230807-1080294Wasp%20Spider62.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiX8fDetsLj9dgl2T9FpHtgB0Gbm_9IZ4pOwGncIDo0986quqZxuVkuF7c6TyTQ7Ud2Dbg0ZNr7EIT1vNLjie_MInvFKR-A4N17btsJzrH-TyvOhnKcZDvgw6hBFrRR-5MPlqCN0oFzA0D-8I_-rqy4i-cnbC5eyCh2rlr8VYql9KYgu4b5_uG_KQyqVA/w426-h640/M-Allen-20230807-1080294Wasp%20Spider62.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm now going to look for their egg sacs, as I have yet to see one. They are supposed to be hung in the vegetation near the web and resemble an upturned Greek urn. Fingers crossed!</span><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Email Subscribers</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I only noticed a month or so back that I wasn't receiving my own copy of my blog via Feedio. I have no idea what happened but they have disappeared off the face of the internet, so I have had to find another provider to send emails out to you. I have gone with follow.it and let's hope they stick around for longer!</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: verdana;">You have missed quite a few posts - I don't know from when exactly but it was early on this year I think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here are links to the posts I've made (most recent first) that you may be interested in reading: </span></i><br />
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<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/08/pyrenean-escapade-with-birding.html" target="_blank">Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc Part 2</a> </span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/07/pyrenean-escapade-with-birding.html" target="_blank">Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc - Part 1</a> </span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/06/wildflowers-and-orchids-on-hillside-in.html" target="_blank">Wildflowers and orchids on a hillside in Laurac</a> </span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/06/black-redstart-nest-and-new-butterflies.html" target="_blank">Black Redstart nest and new butterflies in the garden </a></span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/05/orchids-at-home-and-another-trip-with.html" target="_blank">Orchids at home and another trip with Birding Languedoc</a> </span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/05/orchids-butterflies-and-more-in-upper.html" target="_blank">Orchids, butterflies and more in the Upper Aude Valley - Part 2</a></span> </h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/04/orchids-butterflies-and-more-in-upper.html" target="_blank">Orchids, butterflies and more in the Upper Aude Valley - Part 1</a> </span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/04/i-think-i-need-to-catch-up-bit.html" target="_blank">I think I need to catch up a bit </a></span></h3><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/2023/02/look-what-snow-brought.html" target="_blank">Look what the snow brought!</a> </span></h3><br />
<i><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think that's about it. Hope you enjoy the posts and thank you for following Chateau Moorhen!</span></i><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-82634504692652642412023-08-05T15:48:00.001+02:002023-08-05T17:49:49.003+02:00Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc Part 2<span style="font-family: verdana;">After a delicious breakfast we set off further up the valley where we had been walking the day before. Here it turns narrower with the stream running beside us most of the way.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhOcCVhKVQzaTVF-_BzkDSrDGa2ftBtsKVKkvoERxfmZjwPnnu8kkI6KaZXPNwlV3BpgCfa6Cf7kmFzvyEfk9V1648C3pmIqJPzKVP3osg6F4_jmAiUplzSKp0RCMbILgZ3jIfTCufEYlcEFDEeDaJXnAe1v2yIMhbyZBVeIIfJibEI95XRBD4v1JKbE/s1500/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1372Galbe%20Valley%2012.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhOcCVhKVQzaTVF-_BzkDSrDGa2ftBtsKVKkvoERxfmZjwPnnu8kkI6KaZXPNwlV3BpgCfa6Cf7kmFzvyEfk9V1648C3pmIqJPzKVP3osg6F4_jmAiUplzSKp0RCMbILgZ3jIfTCufEYlcEFDEeDaJXnAe1v2yIMhbyZBVeIIfJibEI95XRBD4v1JKbE/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230615%20Galbe-1372Galbe%20Valley%2012.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">It took an hour or so before the butterflies really warmed up and started flying around, but I saw these two Fritillaries early on. I wasn't sure if they were Pearl Bordered or Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, as I don't have photos of the underwings, but I've been told by someone who also took photos of them that they are Pearl Bordered. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A refuge along the way, which states that we were at 1,645m altitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a male Common Blue (<i>Polyommatus icarus</i>). Shortly after I took these shots it alighted upon some dog poo where I continued to take photos, but I will spare you any of them!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Small Tortoiseshell (<i>Aglais urticae</i>) on wild Thyme (<i>Thymus serpyllum</i>) and I'm pleased to see the House Leeks in this photo, as they are the larval foodplant of the Apollo butterfly!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Once it started warming up a little there were literally dozens of Chimney Sweeper moths (<i>Odezia atrata</i>) flying around - no photos as they never stopped! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">By this time we were higher above the stream and across the valley was a small stream waterfalling its way down the slopes. The yellow in the photo is Broom of some sort and the pink, which can just be seen (better if you click and open up the image) is Europe's Rhododendron, the Alpenrose (either <i>Rhododendron ferrugineum</i> or <i>Rhododendron hirsutum</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Common Blues mating on Common Rockrose (<i>Helianthemum nummularium</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">It was too early for the Apollo to be flying, but we were graced by many beautiful Clouded Apollos (<i>Parnassius mnemosyne</i>). These butterflies like open flowery places in both lowlands and mountains where their larval foodplant, Corydalis, grows (although I didn't see any, but maybe it wasn't flowering at that time). You can see that the tips of their wings are clear; it shows especially well on the image with the dandelion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is <i>Euphorbia cyparissias</i>, the first time I have seen one with orange flowers rather than the more usual yellow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And then ..... some kind horse had given us a wonderful opportunity to watch and photograph all these gorgeous butterflies taking minerals from the dung! I counted about 20 in this image - mostly Small Blues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Three lifers in one image! Top left, Mazarine Blue (<i>Cyaniris semiargus</i>) with wings closed, bottom left unknown moth, top right Small Blue (<i>Cupido minimus</i>), and bottom right, Red Underwing Skipper (<i>Spialia sertorius</i>). Wow! I have longed to see a Small Blue and here were dozens! 💕 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Mazarine Blue, above and below, is a beautiful deep blue but quite plainly patterned on the underside. The Red Underwing Skipper was a nice surprise too. It is found on lower mountain slopes and feeds on Salad Burnet (<i>Sanguisorba minor</i>) of which there was plenty. Sadly I didn't get any decent photos of their underwings.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I think this was on the way back when we were close to the stream on boggy ground. This pretty plant is Common Butterwort (<i>Pinguicula vulgaris</i>), a parasitic plant. Insects get stuck on the sticky leaves and the plant absorbs nutrients from them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A little froglet!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Niall found this orchid for me, as I had not seen one so far on our walk. This is Common Twayblade (<i>Neottia ovata</i>), but obviously it's not opened up yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">One more lifer! This is a Purple-edged Copper (<i>Lycaena hippothoe</i>), but I couldn't get very close as we were all interested and taking photos like mad! So the images are zoomed in rather than taken from close up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't seem to be able to embed this where I want it in the post so it's at the end or no video. So here we are back to the butterflies on the horse dung. I very rarely take videos but thought this was something worth recording, however it's a bit rubbish and rather wobbly. Ignore me saying I think it's an Adonis Blue - it was a Mazarine Blue but I had never seen one before at that point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Part 3 to come which will be what we did that afternoon, and day 3. </span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-65690557757022542122023-07-24T15:47:00.000+02:002023-07-24T15:47:25.611+02:00Pyrenean Escapade with Birding Languedoc - Part 1<span style="font-family: verdana;">Now that we are back from our trip to Provence, I can start to sort through my photos and get some posts up!</span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Birding Languedoc organised a brilliant two night trip up to the Catalan Pyrenees (Pyrenees-Orientales dept) on June 14 - 16th. We stayed in a gite on half board in the little hamlet of Espousouille in the Valley of Galbe. After meeting at lunchtime and having our picnic indoors at the gite (as the weather was cold and occasionally drizzly!) we set off for a walk to discover our surroundings and the damp meadows along the valley. We had no specific expert with us but between our group of about 14 we had plenty of experience of wildflowers, butterflies, and above all, birds. Some of our group were only interested in birds but many of us were this time more interested in the wildflowers and butterflies as there were a lot more of them around than birds, and no having to hang around waiting in the hope of seeing something!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The weather was better than forecast and although it did drizzle for a short time, we actually saw some sun on this first afternoon, though there were few butterflies about. It didn't matter though, as the wildflowers and many orchids made up for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The valley was at an altitude of about 1,500m and they had had a lot of rain over recent months, so the meadows near the stream were very wet. One of our group was wearing wellies so we sent him off to recce to see if we could walk over to the stream, but it was too boggy even for hiking shoes! However it was fine in most places so we didn't miss out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The mountain meadows around these parts are a mass of white at this time of year due to the Pheasant's Eye Narcissus, <i>Narcissus poeticus</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I much prefer these white ones to the yellow narcissus (Narcissus jonquilla) that we see in spring in the lower down and coastal areas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This Broad Leaved Marsh Orchid (<i>Dactylorhiza majalis</i>) liked the damp meadow habitat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">A very pretty Barbie pink 😁😁😁 Fragrant Orchid (<i>Gymnadenia conopsea</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Greater Butterfly Orchid (<i>Platanthera chlorantha</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The path along the valley floor with the damp meadows on the left and drier meadows and conifer trees off to the right. We saw a lifer bird (for most of us) here in these conifers - the Citril Finch. We saw quite a number of them, and some of our group also saw Crossbills and Crested Tits. There were also a fair number of Coal Tits up here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">These two orchids were on the drier side, with some shade from the trees. The first is the Narrow-leaved Helleborine (<i>Cephalanthera longifolia</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And this beautiful specimen is the Burnt Tip Orchid (<i>Neotinea ustulata</i>). I think this is one of my favourite orchids that I've seen so far!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Niall, taking the photo here, is very knowledgeable on wildflowers. These are Whorled Louseworts (<i>Pedicularis verticillata</i>), which is a plant of damp mountain regions and is from the family of Broomrapes, which are mostly parasitic plants which steal the nutrients from other nearby plants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The meadows were also full of Yellow Rattle (<i>Rhinanthus minor</i>) as can be just seen here on the right. Yellow Rattle (another Broomrape) is semi parasitic on various grass species and is often planted to create or restore wildflower meadows by reducing the amount of grass that would compete with the flowers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">(I've got some rain drops on my lens!). Looking down the valley towards the mountains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Back in the village we walked to the bridge - the little stream was running rather fast due to all the rain lately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We met up at the gite before dinner to compare notes, species seen and share photos and look at our reference books. Dinner was absolutely delicious, cooked by the French owner, with his English wife who is a potter with her studio in the same building and daughter helping out with the serving.<br /></span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The next day the weather was much brighter and warmer and the butterflies came out to play..... 😀 That will be Part 2. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>If any of the plants have been misidentified, please let me know via the comments or the Contact Me button at the top right. </i> </span><br />
<br /></p>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-32719671498465714562023-06-20T21:09:00.000+02:002023-06-20T21:09:32.901+02:00Wildflowers and orchids on a hillside in Laurac<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We were lucky to learn from Facebook of a good orchid spot only about 15 minutes from home, so we shot off there on 2nd June to have a look. It really was a fantastic place and I clocked up another two orchids which I'd never seen before (that's not hard at the moment really!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I was most hoping to find the Pink Butterfly Orchid (<i>Anacamptis papilionacea</i>) and we were given directions as to where they were in relation to the radio masts at the top of the hill. We only found a few of them, but there were literally hundreds of the Long-lipped Tongue Orchids (<i>Serapias vomeracea</i>) everywhere we looked which was just magnificent, interspersed with other orchids or wildflowers. Although another 15 mins inland from where we live there were still quite a lot of Mediterranean garrigue plants flowering here, or coming into bud. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Keith at the top of the hill with dozens of Tongue Orchids in the foreground - the same as the ones in the photo above around the Pink Butterfly Orchid. The white flower is <i>Lotus dorycnium</i> from the pea family and I refer to it further down as the larval host plant of a particular moth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There were also some beautiful Bee Orchids (<i>Ophrys apifera</i>); some were pink and some white. They are very similar to the Woodcock Orchid (<i>Ophrys scolopax</i>) but I have learned how to tell the difference between the two using <a href="https://www.angloinfo.com/blogs/france/midi-pyrenees/an-english-naturalist-in-france/bee-and-woodcock-orchids/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this link</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is an <i>Ophrys magniflora</i>, very beautiful but I only found this one which was starting to go over. It is endemic to this department, the Aude. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking from the hillside towards the Corbieres hills in the far distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Amongst the wildflowers was quite a lot of thyme, as well as other Mediterranean plants, including Lavender.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In this shot there is Curry Plant (<i>Helichrysum Italicum</i>) in the foreground, in bud, plus the white flowers are <i>Lotus dorycnium</i> which I talk about a bit further down. If you click on these photos you will see them much larger and see far more detail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">All over this hillside I was surprised to see this beautiful blue flower which is called <i>Aphyllanthes monspeliensis</i>, usually seen all over the rocky coastal garrigues. It's an unusual plant, with no leaves as such, just long stems rather like chives with flowers on the end of some of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">There were a fair few butterflies about but absolutely loads of Burnet moths of the <i>Zygaena</i> genus - mostly Six-spot and this one below which is <i>Zygaena lavandulae</i>; though I have only just learnt the common name I have forgotten it already! It's not the Lavender Burnet, despite its name! I've only seen it before close to the coast (about 1hr 25 mins from here) so it was interesting to see it inland, though it is in its natural habitat in terms of larval foodplant and rocky flowery hillsides. In fact one of the larval foodplants is <i>Lotus dorycnium</i>, which grows all over the slope opposite my house, but so far I've only seen Six-spot Burnet at home. In this photo there are two of them, one showing its underside and one the topside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">One more pink Bee Orchid to finish off!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I won't have time to write about our recent trip up to the mountains before we leave on Sunday for Provence (it's all go here!). Let me just sum it all up in one word. INCREDIBLE! I will need to do about four posts so I'll get to it eventually. 😀</span><br />
<br />Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-91831872043431847352023-06-08T17:32:00.000+02:002023-06-08T17:32:11.969+02:00Black Redstart nest and new butterflies in the garden<span style="font-family: verdana;">In the last ten days or so I've been lucky to see three new species in the garden, bringing my garden total so far to 32! The first was a Black Veined White (<i>Aporia crataegi</i>) on catmint in the Nectar Bar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The same day I was watching the bees and flies buzzing around my Pyracantha hedge which was loaded in flowers, when I spotted this little Green Hairstreak (<i>Callophrys rubi</i>)!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">About a week later I saw another interesting butterfly in the Nectar Bar which I thought might have been a female Orange Tip, but it was in fact a Western Dappled White (<i>Euchloe crameri</i>), which I've only seen once before. I didn't get a photo but they do look very similar to the female Orange Tip, with that pretty green pattern on the underside of the hindwings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Now moving on to birds' nests - do you remember me showing a nest a couple of years ago made by Black Redstarts (<i>Phoenicurus ochruros</i>) but which had been abandoned with eggs in it? They had built that nest under the roof of the covered patio right by the back door. They also started to build a nest at the other end of the patio the following year, but gave up on that before they finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">This year they came back and carried on building that same nest! And then they seemed to hang around the pool/terrace area a lot and visit the nest occasionally - until one day we saw them visiting the nest with food in their beaks!!! We hadn't noticed Mrs sitting on the eggs but sure enough those little birds hatched and the parents have been backwards and forwards feeding them, and making a lot of noise if we are outside anywhere nearby (or the cats). Even if I am watching from the kitchen door they seem to pause as if they have spotted me. Quite why they built their nest there if they are going to be that fussy about humans around I don't know!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Both male and female are feeding the young and they are getting really well fed as when we sit outside the parents are coming back with more food in no time at all. A couple of days after we noticed that there were young they started making a noise whenever the parents came to the nest. Keith has counted five beaks sticking up in the air so far. He managed these photos for me to share with you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Above and below - the nest is located on the right of the built in barbecue (which we don't use, luckily!) under the patio roof, wedged on top of a beam. Below it is just underneath the white ball light on the right of the barbecue wall, above the blind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's Mr Black Redstart on our shed roof waiting to visit the nest with some juicy morsels.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo credit: Keith Allen</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">And here are some of the babies!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pTBS8Rb0lj9GzQSCvKLH5_P46TgvfukXns2Nv6WNg3ALKIrOUBkcorzq8ccqeScT-8mJ9xe15b6T1ZdUPKC-8pRgCp50jXoeFUuJ9CTjha47Tz07DcTuTZjBCEh_Mf_JUDHklrtCCJuNFKvnV7K298FH0kHkllQh5oxUPHtciNMGo4TZidl5oLGK/s1500/AZ6A4442-SharpenAI-FocusBlack%20Redstart%20Nest12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pTBS8Rb0lj9GzQSCvKLH5_P46TgvfukXns2Nv6WNg3ALKIrOUBkcorzq8ccqeScT-8mJ9xe15b6T1ZdUPKC-8pRgCp50jXoeFUuJ9CTjha47Tz07DcTuTZjBCEh_Mf_JUDHklrtCCJuNFKvnV7K298FH0kHkllQh5oxUPHtciNMGo4TZidl5oLGK/w426-h640/AZ6A4442-SharpenAI-FocusBlack%20Redstart%20Nest12.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo credit: Keith Allen</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm so pleased K managed to get this next shot with Dad in the picture as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I just hope that they don't fledge before they can fly or it could be disastrous with three cats around. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNxS7Ry_YQW-voFOGuXZiRuTXnTsTqyru_sYcOUBsXw6n9fPsBCi63Gu6Z3dCIs_bUIkWNm0m4l4YmYGTmgdILOcVLIPkGMNR93SyVRfolqkMgvsewxw6tLpbdtIlP5j_Vw4OOHCR0nEjObjkDrPxyf8i35RyH9BPX3S8I2y0Rx3wAQYmSj9YOkFn/s1500/AZ6A4443-SharpenAI-FocusBlack%20Redstart%20Nest22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNxS7Ry_YQW-voFOGuXZiRuTXnTsTqyru_sYcOUBsXw6n9fPsBCi63Gu6Z3dCIs_bUIkWNm0m4l4YmYGTmgdILOcVLIPkGMNR93SyVRfolqkMgvsewxw6tLpbdtIlP5j_Vw4OOHCR0nEjObjkDrPxyf8i35RyH9BPX3S8I2y0Rx3wAQYmSj9YOkFn/w426-h640/AZ6A4443-SharpenAI-FocusBlack%20Redstart%20Nest22.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo credit: Keith Allen</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Going back to May when the hedge was looking really amazing and really abuzz with pollinating insects.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-6ciAdCPdShBOTRi8UbfcMvemfnDn0D-cK7FkGip-Goy_CF9SyIsjpMrgoUnK90xm8gPKaKRdpfnLL2WrolOOnqGO92ervQO6qRd70MKxhm2SDSZ5j-bOOvi1hB4YpNmDp-48eR85eUyLMFDqkNlm_999EOAfnj5MRW07CkDQl5BXGR492j8yhua/s1500/M-Allen-20230523-1183Hedge2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-6ciAdCPdShBOTRi8UbfcMvemfnDn0D-cK7FkGip-Goy_CF9SyIsjpMrgoUnK90xm8gPKaKRdpfnLL2WrolOOnqGO92ervQO6qRd70MKxhm2SDSZ5j-bOOvi1hB4YpNmDp-48eR85eUyLMFDqkNlm_999EOAfnj5MRW07CkDQl5BXGR492j8yhua/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230523-1183Hedge2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is the 'orchid lawn' on the same day, 23 May, with mostly Man Orchids (<i>Orchis anthropophora</i>) visible.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDH76Ic9IKlqrGUAfQ8it9hx69arzR35psoGwqmzAJc0JQCmIq1FnHjp8MQrnRFIR0S4A1gOILKqrPSO9_xQtTGYYQw8ofO4UZ5Ghag9-2wTKX8ie1J61bUcEvQyP0EK3uxgzuxxW89UZ83cZtwSrWbkXBL6qOgRZffnqOIZdG1roQEJCtk7-k7LMr/s2000/M-Allen-20230523-1182Orchid%20Lawn12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDH76Ic9IKlqrGUAfQ8it9hx69arzR35psoGwqmzAJc0JQCmIq1FnHjp8MQrnRFIR0S4A1gOILKqrPSO9_xQtTGYYQw8ofO4UZ5Ghag9-2wTKX8ie1J61bUcEvQyP0EK3uxgzuxxW89UZ83cZtwSrWbkXBL6qOgRZffnqOIZdG1roQEJCtk7-k7LMr/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230523-1182Orchid%20Lawn12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">And now, it's covered in pink lollipops, the Pyramidal Orchids (<i>Anacamptis pyramidalis</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gQ0ApNr-ZJBNZsX370FPD_gQdArFN5We5sYAR-0ipnuTWaMQ8WExeTx2ds0HNeCkxh2_4CCBRXE_pVgoTjkYpO3jse2e4IXnIwmKe0K1o5KBBDJMK3ztaAUuHXwdC-_dioPFBEsTRlt2B1CHpuAA_83JHiN06OjPdeGaXGFRG9UsyMt5O6llX4sE/s2000/M-Allen-20230602-1283Orchid%20Lawn22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gQ0ApNr-ZJBNZsX370FPD_gQdArFN5We5sYAR-0ipnuTWaMQ8WExeTx2ds0HNeCkxh2_4CCBRXE_pVgoTjkYpO3jse2e4IXnIwmKe0K1o5KBBDJMK3ztaAUuHXwdC-_dioPFBEsTRlt2B1CHpuAA_83JHiN06OjPdeGaXGFRG9UsyMt5O6llX4sE/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230602-1283Orchid%20Lawn22.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">View from the other end of the garden showing a Lizard Orchid (<i>Himantoglossum hircinum</i>) just coming into bloom as well.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdT_HXrZ-uTUY2skdHR2ow1s027IeJ2tdmA_z9aC-a--aWayPc4u2PP2xGQv5yMvLgo4iNVNG_nuocLZRu4qcebnGHg0dN54sbQpleWz7HhMYJBhq9V4ap4BlWLgw9DtVjX9geCK63KDvyXGrreF7T62kudFHLsrI3UfXG84CmlheihXXXUt08_MF/s1500/M-Allen-20230602-1287Orchid%20Lawn32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdT_HXrZ-uTUY2skdHR2ow1s027IeJ2tdmA_z9aC-a--aWayPc4u2PP2xGQv5yMvLgo4iNVNG_nuocLZRu4qcebnGHg0dN54sbQpleWz7HhMYJBhq9V4ap4BlWLgw9DtVjX9geCK63KDvyXGrreF7T62kudFHLsrI3UfXG84CmlheihXXXUt08_MF/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230602-1287Orchid%20Lawn32.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">It seems to be a good year for orchids as other people have said so too. We recently visited a hilltop not that far from here which was covered in lovely wildflowers and loads of interesting orchids, so that will be my next blog post! I hope you are not sick of orchids yet. 😀 However we will be away for several days next week up into the mountains for a group adventure looking for wildflowers, butterflies and birds so I doubt I will have time to post before then.</span><br />
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</div></div>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-11976331956073725812023-05-24T16:04:00.000+02:002023-05-24T16:04:50.225+02:00Orchids at home and another trip with Birding Languedoc<span style="font-family: verdana;">We are on to the next phase of orchids in our lawn, now being the time for Man Orchids and Pyramid (or Pyramidal) Orchids. This Pyramid Orchid (<i>Anacamptis pyramidalis</i>) in our back lawn is way ahead of the rest of them.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D4MsV85F3cT0UFxsbSBHxpJmtLTwCLo2ilNYDiE3tvi6MmwHtLOHDrXSD1BIMDfZ8YmEJdJcLTdHDjvFmyqAUGdcdN9C4YRZBUsU6_46oT7oc5UUwJDHYyvlaoQxfBxx7qv24l_iGHlVrXCfL78KhGbSaBWTvBN1tLgRw9o1Ih5omfAdx93wj-6m/s1500/M-Allen-20230512-1089Pyramid%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D4MsV85F3cT0UFxsbSBHxpJmtLTwCLo2ilNYDiE3tvi6MmwHtLOHDrXSD1BIMDfZ8YmEJdJcLTdHDjvFmyqAUGdcdN9C4YRZBUsU6_46oT7oc5UUwJDHYyvlaoQxfBxx7qv24l_iGHlVrXCfL78KhGbSaBWTvBN1tLgRw9o1Ih5omfAdx93wj-6m/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230512-1089Pyramid%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">There are also some late Early Spider Orchids (<i>Ophrys sphegodes</i>) freshly flowering in the back lawn!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtsg1lAplaud88EgsL-c9o0LHDwzkROTY6xIYCEnQRVaHhP151B1R3-ullg9akkWt6g7TUprCBAZn54hS9MgbKaQmXzLG5KydKwuoRGnvjuqRP7kAFoBnMqVZBIvM2MNBwcbvyKIahV4GwezIy9q96FaSMR86-ymQAGN7kWAe16aNroriz1pzib4g/s1500/M-Allen-20230512-1108Early%20Spider%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibtsg1lAplaud88EgsL-c9o0LHDwzkROTY6xIYCEnQRVaHhP151B1R3-ullg9akkWt6g7TUprCBAZn54hS9MgbKaQmXzLG5KydKwuoRGnvjuqRP7kAFoBnMqVZBIvM2MNBwcbvyKIahV4GwezIy9q96FaSMR86-ymQAGN7kWAe16aNroriz1pzib4g/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230512-1108Early%20Spider%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Out the front there are dozens of yellow labels marking where the orchids are so that when K mows, he can try not to mow them off. This is easier said than done and mowing is taking him much longer at the moment. However most of the earlier orchids have gone to seed thankfully so they can be mowed over. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We have had a decent amount of rain over the last week so that's great news for our gardens, agriculture (as the sunflowers have just recently been sown) and the environment in general.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrFYQmHXiPuKXZdzhY7BiKi6BmjRqpuI-EvDOMgV_jumT--B-OSzAyhhO2vklXd9sGFSQjBHOQcc81l-m3hrHz8N26Ov1MYJ0KH3IVimXNzHG2OHaFGHL_gC81qFrSd0Qe5NUFMTmaQJLHhArgOs_p9hlXvVRZU8wAXQS7ZdlFysho_LcFFzHPZbp/s2000/M-Allen-20230508-1071Man%20Orchids12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrFYQmHXiPuKXZdzhY7BiKi6BmjRqpuI-EvDOMgV_jumT--B-OSzAyhhO2vklXd9sGFSQjBHOQcc81l-m3hrHz8N26Ov1MYJ0KH3IVimXNzHG2OHaFGHL_gC81qFrSd0Qe5NUFMTmaQJLHhArgOs_p9hlXvVRZU8wAXQS7ZdlFysho_LcFFzHPZbp/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1071Man%20Orchids12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Above and below are Man Orchids (<i>Orchis anthropophora</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXYlckuMxYgL1NzdkI2ICgWgcBe0qGUHcyYFS17mUZzTQZeH0Sy5-rPfvyo13iftXhSElceF0DyThQ5oFVVEVcdm4RKo0i1Snw1R1wYPUXpRSavZI0XKrtyItPNdyAU2C-ogiRdN8TQAFXDK8j3E_8Iru7JlIhdKzITU1nYLomvRSKnQmB6riep8A/s1500/M-Allen-20230508-1073Man%20Orchids22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXYlckuMxYgL1NzdkI2ICgWgcBe0qGUHcyYFS17mUZzTQZeH0Sy5-rPfvyo13iftXhSElceF0DyThQ5oFVVEVcdm4RKo0i1Snw1R1wYPUXpRSavZI0XKrtyItPNdyAU2C-ogiRdN8TQAFXDK8j3E_8Iru7JlIhdKzITU1nYLomvRSKnQmB6riep8A/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1073Man%20Orchids22.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEgbtUW6pdOssn0VX9zgbQnH2AIFcfCMmwC5KF5CtId6UtJ1Gnw-wrFhU_-dqlMQkTVOkwC4x3nhhTg5k5bE9kxrbG2aOdnhidsDZpwOiP89JC-s-CHuom72UgKxNmw4tE90AekjFWfzrhrKjcsTrxVUaSeivqICwq8qrnju85PB5_qTWdNESZh0I/s1500/M-Allen-20230508-1078Man%20Orchids32.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEgbtUW6pdOssn0VX9zgbQnH2AIFcfCMmwC5KF5CtId6UtJ1Gnw-wrFhU_-dqlMQkTVOkwC4x3nhhTg5k5bE9kxrbG2aOdnhidsDZpwOiP89JC-s-CHuom72UgKxNmw4tE90AekjFWfzrhrKjcsTrxVUaSeivqICwq8qrnju85PB5_qTWdNESZh0I/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1078Man%20Orchids32.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I had a little wander up the road last week and came across a solitary orchid that I didn't recognise - with the aid of my (new for Xmas) ID book and facebook I've found out it's a Military Orchid (<i>Orchis militaris</i>). </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfv5UWJCMt21r5RHmlS4MDwc3cxAIcvUT9bQGc46hity8bjAhMD9usq7GX347tON7fosji87BRqZcvUk7UIGWPrX0QDgzCcmCaMb8cZP2AyjccDk6pnHR4TnbGNgWrj48cEeu2trnZ8SnIJWiSrF_pIrxA1GbrDHj1xQC4BX0UgWDeAQDSelNAx4Y/s1500/M-Allen-20230508-1052Military%20Orchid22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfv5UWJCMt21r5RHmlS4MDwc3cxAIcvUT9bQGc46hity8bjAhMD9usq7GX347tON7fosji87BRqZcvUk7UIGWPrX0QDgzCcmCaMb8cZP2AyjccDk6pnHR4TnbGNgWrj48cEeu2trnZ8SnIJWiSrF_pIrxA1GbrDHj1xQC4BX0UgWDeAQDSelNAx4Y/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1052Military%20Orchid22.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The nectar bar is looking great at the moment and I have been filling in some of the gaps with garlic chives which I divided from a pot on the terrace, which will add some white colour and attract insects from August onwards. Of course they then self seed like crazy but I can always weed some out if they try to take over.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I lost one of the Gauras, but that's not a bad thing as it was too crowded in that spot (where the Valerian is); however I have found three new self seeded plants! I can find room for one, but they grow enormous when flowering so I'm not sure at the moment where the others will go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I also bought some more lavender to fill in a few gaps in the herb bed, and I was really pleased to discover pink lavender for sale, so I grabbed a couple of them and a couple of blue ones. They were all labelled up as semi dwarf varieties and with the actual name - wonders will never cease! Since I took this photo on the 8th everything has grown even more and I had to search for two of the lavenders already planted as they've been rather swamped by the tall plants, also that lavender in the foreground is now a lovely bright blue!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHbEsAq_LBE3sywd2ok6c3PCIFIJqlwfqoAkDzWG8-UGqP8n2uVhjgG1eYKcUijlhkcYMHqwZIIuaWXLP9ZbOsB0vFef2IrEzUdoGqF9ZrPncndGZusW4xiiBnUsqCI8EJe5Z8H2F9uK76OAemU0_bq4cs3Z20OlgBAs6tjzYrR1L40KaNLDdJPRZ/s1500/M-Allen-20230508-1067Nectar%20Bar12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjHbEsAq_LBE3sywd2ok6c3PCIFIJqlwfqoAkDzWG8-UGqP8n2uVhjgG1eYKcUijlhkcYMHqwZIIuaWXLP9ZbOsB0vFef2IrEzUdoGqF9ZrPncndGZusW4xiiBnUsqCI8EJe5Z8H2F9uK76OAemU0_bq4cs3Z20OlgBAs6tjzYrR1L40KaNLDdJPRZ/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1067Nectar%20Bar12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking at the Nectar Bar from opposite ends: the large green plant in the foreground above is Gaura and will be a lot taller when it is flowering!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSfvZ3KZ4ATHNdD5V9s2Ts5bzdhrNV1BlTXMmVAa0qK1Y27aokHdk-w00wgXo5nCOvjjNeW08rbEOjkaFy1siIWiwdz1VhWkcIYjxUNvu5dbwnoWHtNCsROrzB06lbV97Tw_BXmbIvDUD9B9DNvNUkZMj4TkLXbxUYKPAsSXfuA61R2c1WfNjm1uj/s1500/M-Allen-20230508-1080Nectar%20Bar22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSfvZ3KZ4ATHNdD5V9s2Ts5bzdhrNV1BlTXMmVAa0qK1Y27aokHdk-w00wgXo5nCOvjjNeW08rbEOjkaFy1siIWiwdz1VhWkcIYjxUNvu5dbwnoWHtNCsROrzB06lbV97Tw_BXmbIvDUD9B9DNvNUkZMj4TkLXbxUYKPAsSXfuA61R2c1WfNjm1uj/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230508-1080Nectar%20Bar22.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I was really pleased with the Cat Mints that I bought as they are all taller varieties compared to the ones I have grown in the past. So far the cats have shown no interest, maybe because it's not really suitable for lying on and rolling on? 😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">We went on another trip out with Birding Languedoc a few days ago into the Corbieres region and it was pretty horrific in the morning with an evil wind. I was in full on winter clothes - gloves, winter jacket and a head band thingy which covers your forehead and ears - it belongs to K and is the first time I've worn it. Much better than a beanie! I was nice and warm, apart from my cheeks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">At lunch we headed to a nearby river where we took our chairs and ate our picnics serenaded by Nightingales and Golden Orioles, and we were then given a lovely display by some Bee-eaters who kept coming back to perch in the same trees - they seem to love dead trees which makes it great for viewing/spotting them! Amazingly a group of Griffon Vultures flew overhead and some Black Kites and a Short Toed Snake Eagle. Armchair birding, what could be better?! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Our route was changed for the afternoon so we could go somewhere more protected from the wind so we spent a lovely afternoon walking up a sunny track through a pine forest with views of rocky ridges here and there. We started off crossing a little stream walking over some stepping stones where we saw a water snake, some fish and tadpoles in the crystal clear water. Also some red damselflies mating. I could have stayed here for a while just watching! After a while of uphill walking we came to where we had a view of a Golden Eagles' nest with known young inside, but we saw no eagles and the young were too low down inside the nest! Great to see anyway. We heard plenty of birds but didn't see any of note but it was lovely walk with pretty Mediterranean garrigue wildflowers<br /></span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Along the way there were plenty of butterflies and I finally got my camera out of my rucksack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Below is a Scarce Swallowtail (<i>Iphiclides podalirius</i>).</span><br />
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</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxOEyG0wNjtZuwcqziFSyE2tUxw4QLAz5CqRbAhrE0sTWvLB9hCfqZd5NjQ9GM_YkdSw78qSk880EW-1EN7Iukq8K2YgqdO3w-cflmcq0hjZ2iQFIAX9Z6Kn3QKdC3QBpf7dZeaI5DfSlAWgNiqC71tYc4DhR-2deUYECmfUSw9wojSat660MWNto/s1500/M-Allen-20230517-1114Scarce%20Swallowtail12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxOEyG0wNjtZuwcqziFSyE2tUxw4QLAz5CqRbAhrE0sTWvLB9hCfqZd5NjQ9GM_YkdSw78qSk880EW-1EN7Iukq8K2YgqdO3w-cflmcq0hjZ2iQFIAX9Z6Kn3QKdC3QBpf7dZeaI5DfSlAWgNiqC71tYc4DhR-2deUYECmfUSw9wojSat660MWNto/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230517-1114Scarce%20Swallowtail12.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMEGr0DgTB5qKZdacq6rUG9gt-0wDF6heul9Q0NCKsoYhFi74JiSD5AbPOykXoEs2b4BTsTqFTqPndDChuYdV1lwXMPoIncEu6YNFitCdVxY0lk_IwCICQTrFEUcnP4ktlU0AtH5KARaR3eUCB7_pOz79Gn8C3aM63ccMg2IgJuz3ehiLscoCQUjW/s1500/M-Allen-20230517-1120Scarce%20Swallowtail22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMEGr0DgTB5qKZdacq6rUG9gt-0wDF6heul9Q0NCKsoYhFi74JiSD5AbPOykXoEs2b4BTsTqFTqPndDChuYdV1lwXMPoIncEu6YNFitCdVxY0lk_IwCICQTrFEUcnP4ktlU0AtH5KARaR3eUCB7_pOz79Gn8C3aM63ccMg2IgJuz3ehiLscoCQUjW/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230517-1120Scarce%20Swallowtail22.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">We saw a number of other butterflies - Southern White Admiral, Provence Chalkhill Blue, Cleopatra, Brown Argus, a dead Black-veined White on a flower and a few other unknowns. The most interesting was a Spanish Festoon, but by the time I got to where it had been spotted it flew away! Frustrating for me if you recall the Southern Festoon I saw just recently, this was the other Festoon! Cross fingers I'll see one another time. After a long day with an early start it gets a little fatiguing all the up and downs involved in trying to take photos of butterflies (and flowers) so I just took a few pictures of the more interesting plants:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQB-Jt4SOgrYerVzmA6EHTz_mdfqWLTcVok9371rFI4RRju6ASof_MOQiLG22p-SF5pEDe0CUc4O58k-g9zRpLlUWhHQ879Yv3kqYnm5RCLYIQFMmxSnKQvhyP6BkeB1_zgBTRX2yyz1SrkX6lYN1oES08xImds15N03EEaQ4fqj7pSG-H1ze53yU-/s1500/M-Allen-20230517-1127Wild%20Gladiolus2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQB-Jt4SOgrYerVzmA6EHTz_mdfqWLTcVok9371rFI4RRju6ASof_MOQiLG22p-SF5pEDe0CUc4O58k-g9zRpLlUWhHQ879Yv3kqYnm5RCLYIQFMmxSnKQvhyP6BkeB1_zgBTRX2yyz1SrkX6lYN1oES08xImds15N03EEaQ4fqj7pSG-H1ze53yU-/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230517-1127Wild%20Gladiolus2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Above is a wild Gladioli (<i>Gladiolus illyricus</i>), and below is Narbonne Star-of-Bethlehem (<i>Ornithogalum narbonense</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosmiuz92MmPV9SXA8nDD9zfuVpgX72hTCGLqdjA6sy2rr7DxlZwde7IeBfCh5yNx-Bga9Z_ZG8xLVuht8Qhl-X4mARWj01zXNfsE5C3yXLLR_vD31wlZgWdFefV7cIFLNDBCN3QB4iHoHT_6u51oZwwx_ZXaM0cR5fy8w7GNWiDQBUOS_xoOIGt4E/s1500/M-Allen-20230517-1136Star%20of%20Bethlehem2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosmiuz92MmPV9SXA8nDD9zfuVpgX72hTCGLqdjA6sy2rr7DxlZwde7IeBfCh5yNx-Bga9Z_ZG8xLVuht8Qhl-X4mARWj01zXNfsE5C3yXLLR_vD31wlZgWdFefV7cIFLNDBCN3QB4iHoHT_6u51oZwwx_ZXaM0cR5fy8w7GNWiDQBUOS_xoOIGt4E/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230517-1136Star%20of%20Bethlehem2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally, another orchid but a new one to me. I've seen the more common Tongue Orchid (<i>S. lingua</i>) but this is the Long Lipped Tongue Orchid (<i>Serapias vomeracea</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">The weather is still really chilly for the time of year and not putting me much in the mood for planting out tomatoes and geraniums, which I need to go and buy. The pool is looking inviting, although no way are we putting the heating on yet! Anyone fancy a dip at 18C? I prefer 30C. 😀😀😀</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>I wrote this last week but we’ve been busy with a sick cat (sudden stage 4 kidney disease) 😢😢😢 so have been to the vets three times and have a bucketful of medications and different kinds of foods which we've been trying to get her to eat. She has perked up a lot but is still not completely out of the woods, and even if she does get over this episode is likely to have flare ups again in the future. Please send positive vibes to Hallie. </i></span><br />
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Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4547505703081839636.post-3651551755185600552023-05-03T19:54:00.000+02:002023-05-03T19:54:45.749+02:00Orchids, butterflies and more in the Upper Aude Valley - Part 2<span style="font-family: verdana;">I didn't see this butterfly, but Keith did and this is his photo. It's a Provence Orange Tip (<i>Anthocharis euphenoides</i>), though I think he may have taken the shot at the morning location. I also forgot to mention that we saw Swallowtails and Scarce Swallowtails on the plateau as well.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7xZ9KYiA86Kyo4cTYMCnJzUNYR8Cmrtya1MIuZrMtTVs1xs7kdEPVMxvPlf7tz0PtLWpqbZyom0VuoHRdcaqbn-yJvfqtItXN-9VIJDR09_NARGCCLuR4yfeKyN3BuOylo2qh9eIXvhrxbcz923x5zhEHsmpWwTlXPlb1p1YZD-22CBsM4_mb8ls/s1500/Keith-2Provence%20Orange%20Tip2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1159" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7xZ9KYiA86Kyo4cTYMCnJzUNYR8Cmrtya1MIuZrMtTVs1xs7kdEPVMxvPlf7tz0PtLWpqbZyom0VuoHRdcaqbn-yJvfqtItXN-9VIJDR09_NARGCCLuR4yfeKyN3BuOylo2qh9eIXvhrxbcz923x5zhEHsmpWwTlXPlb1p1YZD-22CBsM4_mb8ls/w494-h640/Keith-2Provence%20Orange%20Tip2.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Photo credit: Keith Allen</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After lunch we set off about 20 minutes away to a place where Ian had discovered a field with Conical Orchids (<i>Orchis conica/Neotinea conica</i>), which are less common than many orchids. The habitat here was a grazed field that had had cows in it until fairly recently, so the grass was quite short.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUWleYQB37ZviHWzuX8sq42sRuuhXWEaQFLw5Ks3R99mBCigttdGIHyAtJdVhdpe-B077ALRtFRu61VSQZrFPK2xVEVkD4zJLg9qqY-5xdp3KfG3zsi0MOC7WsGgcTpNoGmWoYdwP1o22xdzWGhyZmPTVSsyUmcmWEYJKkl3nYasTu50PJwGin5oZ/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0947Conical%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUWleYQB37ZviHWzuX8sq42sRuuhXWEaQFLw5Ks3R99mBCigttdGIHyAtJdVhdpe-B077ALRtFRu61VSQZrFPK2xVEVkD4zJLg9qqY-5xdp3KfG3zsi0MOC7WsGgcTpNoGmWoYdwP1o22xdzWGhyZmPTVSsyUmcmWEYJKkl3nYasTu50PJwGin5oZ/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230420-0947Conical%20Orchid2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">After a bit of time we realised there were other orchids in this field and also Cowslips (<i>Primula veris</i>) - in fact we had gone past hundreds of Cowslips on the verges on our way here - really pretty! The two blue flowers in the bottom left corner are Grape Hyacinths (<i>Muscari neglectum</i>) which are common wildflowers in the Mediterranean area in the spring. As always with my photos on Blogger, click on one to view them much larger with better image quality.</span><div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Rxmg6FPeNRdgYL44wFX-IUGmmVsztNMX9TaqXleSESY2E_E9Gyfz7rGYEjGTO4rMxfD0ktoY3UFxxdwDghagSR6KH53Xxr8Y_99kM4uLatWzxh2PIgOFOugcxf0IwzSxJ9AcHK9wkYX6M-T3iWJ2ROZeCF8Z4-I_LbYEssBGyobEQqPgDSbRWpf0/s2000/M-Allen-20230420-0941Conical%20Orchid%20field12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Rxmg6FPeNRdgYL44wFX-IUGmmVsztNMX9TaqXleSESY2E_E9Gyfz7rGYEjGTO4rMxfD0ktoY3UFxxdwDghagSR6KH53Xxr8Y_99kM4uLatWzxh2PIgOFOugcxf0IwzSxJ9AcHK9wkYX6M-T3iWJ2ROZeCF8Z4-I_LbYEssBGyobEQqPgDSbRWpf0/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230420-0941Conical%20Orchid%20field12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"> This is a Green Winged Orchid (<i>Anacamptis morio</i>).</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hTSQmHgfcMXMeQxfp9EL5eP8BqmBJXqwChzyCBkXaCGNFno322Xb8VlzIsrMZUHbBBPVFv19YcC61aiovoZFtIs9p_ByRWF8Dd3wlffRy-QPpvs-Is41j5KvtaOmUKjSOmwZ4sZqzUMyFZ9TN5HvwvWtOthyuIiQcjrmTPmt8K3oVBL3hcSrS0jM/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0954Green%20Winged%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hTSQmHgfcMXMeQxfp9EL5eP8BqmBJXqwChzyCBkXaCGNFno322Xb8VlzIsrMZUHbBBPVFv19YcC61aiovoZFtIs9p_ByRWF8Dd3wlffRy-QPpvs-Is41j5KvtaOmUKjSOmwZ4sZqzUMyFZ9TN5HvwvWtOthyuIiQcjrmTPmt8K3oVBL3hcSrS0jM/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230420-0954Green%20Winged%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Someone spotted this lovely caterpillar curled up at the base of one of the Conical Orchids - it's a Grass Eggar (<i>Lasiocampa trifolii</i>) moth larva.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZFBtcWqpKXzVYE-kwaDio02C-kp34MyTJQeUhTqO-XyazCp8DqJGurfO_XnS9T6_xzmTY8XjK0XShN0qEVlc1RwuDK_AlVr4JMh4HHtSCKE7RVN9FHkeADjxbKgbYp8J34WqviWqQ5sszxZ2IYuKgQE2rdtuGhMiRd2hZPhagPhlRdaDZEzyi2kS/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0961Grass%20Eggar%20Caterpillar2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZFBtcWqpKXzVYE-kwaDio02C-kp34MyTJQeUhTqO-XyazCp8DqJGurfO_XnS9T6_xzmTY8XjK0XShN0qEVlc1RwuDK_AlVr4JMh4HHtSCKE7RVN9FHkeADjxbKgbYp8J34WqviWqQ5sszxZ2IYuKgQE2rdtuGhMiRd2hZPhagPhlRdaDZEzyi2kS/w640-h640/M-Allen-20230420-0961Grass%20Eggar%20Caterpillar2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The Tongue Orchid (<i>Serapias lingua</i>) is a gorgeous orchid.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReLbnT8O1rHNJSt-TntSQjuH41WjKL5SoieUD_Wy3NaJbWg3l0H9Vx8VMuzJh8eqKO-VMa7qrJGq6AzmQHutfea4n4KsrfRN64NCpjCdpEXblDhxs4am5ujBdvOWTuA5PWklSikGjueuE1W5CnNXbg3_Iul33_EFzllPvKq70wcwzn4eVljf2fLYp/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0970Tongue%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiReLbnT8O1rHNJSt-TntSQjuH41WjKL5SoieUD_Wy3NaJbWg3l0H9Vx8VMuzJh8eqKO-VMa7qrJGq6AzmQHutfea4n4KsrfRN64NCpjCdpEXblDhxs4am5ujBdvOWTuA5PWklSikGjueuE1W5CnNXbg3_Iul33_EFzllPvKq70wcwzn4eVljf2fLYp/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230420-0970Tongue%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a Woodcock Orchid (<i>Ophrys scolopax</i>) - one of the prettiest I've seen so far. Looks like a teddy bear to me.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWEHksoXHBw8Uk-oAYa50fSE5OVSmZfJViFrl-QCWa8kXCqfGzkjEVXjiSIm9mCi63GtDsKob7CkexnRoSYNwFOE9tX-_so5pnOwrEJzWdGRKZlL2LV8Cjv5ePQhTmt9dk3wsoiQuFDN9CJRil3qsuqyqUxl2Pk9bbINAtrySJYGoI3pUmSPnQ2PD/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0982Woodcock%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWEHksoXHBw8Uk-oAYa50fSE5OVSmZfJViFrl-QCWa8kXCqfGzkjEVXjiSIm9mCi63GtDsKob7CkexnRoSYNwFOE9tX-_so5pnOwrEJzWdGRKZlL2LV8Cjv5ePQhTmt9dk3wsoiQuFDN9CJRil3qsuqyqUxl2Pk9bbINAtrySJYGoI3pUmSPnQ2PD/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230420-0982Woodcock%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Growing in close proximity to the Woodcock were these Early Spider Orchids (<i>Ophrys sphegodes</i>) - but which we think were crossed with the Woodcock due to the pink colouring and similarities. Another very pretty orchid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Onto the third stop and this Wall Lizard (<i>Podarcis muralis</i>) (I think) and others were running around on the curbstones by the parking.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRUst-tsvF1efysnWRJXS4LmUKTsDMifghrZ1MmLyWLAliKhz-A4zr3CWKB1q-_uifBQXfxU_pF-QUzDbsDgUPSItBY2fe1Oji3ruof2zLqHe07xY9fxhttshH5bLnM1vTfECFbXpKkhuYSICr9EfFTLMGHsiuP2mjIEjqeZ_cob0pNC0QTVKnXRV/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0992Wall%20Lizard2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRUst-tsvF1efysnWRJXS4LmUKTsDMifghrZ1MmLyWLAliKhz-A4zr3CWKB1q-_uifBQXfxU_pF-QUzDbsDgUPSItBY2fe1Oji3ruof2zLqHe07xY9fxhttshH5bLnM1vTfECFbXpKkhuYSICr9EfFTLMGHsiuP2mjIEjqeZ_cob0pNC0QTVKnXRV/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230420-0992Wall%20Lizard2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">We came to this area to see lots of Early Purple Orchids (<i>Orchis mascula</i>), growing on very dry stony soil on a hillside. i always thought they had spotted leaves but apparently they don't all have the spots!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEign9Ey3_EFVQXrUBPf6w4lbRjPgnM7gohUeTXhgX4mC1blw6sMU-KPg_57tBTWXe42V2-6ZtcuD4Ey7tVVFciHKNcdgnLDZai2mexgriQ-HgQhY6ETCRyki9qmA9LzKfTu2VMD-lg6OescEjH1N8FQz2yW9usR4wYYZ_fCxDuaNuyjFzyPnJ_k5hqO/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0995Early%20Purple%20Orchid2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEign9Ey3_EFVQXrUBPf6w4lbRjPgnM7gohUeTXhgX4mC1blw6sMU-KPg_57tBTWXe42V2-6ZtcuD4Ey7tVVFciHKNcdgnLDZai2mexgriQ-HgQhY6ETCRyki9qmA9LzKfTu2VMD-lg6OescEjH1N8FQz2yW9usR4wYYZ_fCxDuaNuyjFzyPnJ_k5hqO/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230420-0995Early%20Purple%20Orchid2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Our fourth and final location of the day had a different kind of habitat - lots of fresh young heather growing although it seemed like the old bushy heather had been cut back as it was really hard to walk through, crunching over the cut wood, and in one place, through a boggy place with a little stream! Along the way we spotted this lovely Western Green Lizard (<i>Lacerta bilineata</i>). I'd seen one back at our house in Brittany, but unfortunately one of the cats had bitten it. It was still alive so I put it in a sheltered spot and hope it survived. These are big lizards (as European lizards go) so wasn't easy to get all of it in one image!</span><br /><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDVYVa5tk7srt_hZki-t0k5tdQMXUER1EPSFbfPxkEok7yfWCVth6Hl5Q4km2vIsOoiZoWYxZ8prHtfblEB2moklJY4R3A7wMnjg13d_ICVcyRHLz7vH9Pwhjtyz8AnIdULqZtsH7pl2n6U9ZNMToDVx9CEReMmg6TxW7_6Z5UQtLQjT090YPjx5C/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-0999Western%20Green%20Lizard12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDVYVa5tk7srt_hZki-t0k5tdQMXUER1EPSFbfPxkEok7yfWCVth6Hl5Q4km2vIsOoiZoWYxZ8prHtfblEB2moklJY4R3A7wMnjg13d_ICVcyRHLz7vH9Pwhjtyz8AnIdULqZtsH7pl2n6U9ZNMToDVx9CEReMmg6TxW7_6Z5UQtLQjT090YPjx5C/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230420-0999Western%20Green%20Lizard12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">So here's a shot of it's head and upper body. I think this is the male as it has a blue throat.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKRvOGc8SHb0LnO2agZ_XcWMTZRRR1VfII31XD5o7DtFLze3MNtRqC_kHmGxT-nKfTWUKUkeSgsw6upRtCHSkUaxOsp9jAUPVf2Xy0ySRCxteOW2KuutB0kAFwluP1anQqL4Yl5nRvK2goxKHYqBVbm1hpLgb4T6jNVyXQfqVCVrI5SbdJSIuAoce/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-1004Western%20Green%20Lizard22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKRvOGc8SHb0LnO2agZ_XcWMTZRRR1VfII31XD5o7DtFLze3MNtRqC_kHmGxT-nKfTWUKUkeSgsw6upRtCHSkUaxOsp9jAUPVf2Xy0ySRCxteOW2KuutB0kAFwluP1anQqL4Yl5nRvK2goxKHYqBVbm1hpLgb4T6jNVyXQfqVCVrI5SbdJSIuAoce/w640-h480/M-Allen-20230420-1004Western%20Green%20Lizard22.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">The reason for visiting this spot was to see this specific subspecies of Sombre Bee Orchid - <i>Ophrys fusca vasconica</i>. For some orchid scholars this is known as a separate species, but there is a lot of hoo haa in the orchid world over subspecies vs. new species. Personally, I wouldn't have a clue! 😀😀😀</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdqCg41HnYWkXDdzrNvLDFLP03lnpYgeu_MSegu9kKRWXHerycmI5Cn97fAI0kXVs7dLiM4YRROhQJ__oQbeucBK0wQoE1QxL8pkO5JEb21HNbvyRUE6SeAez4pIKzZjklgF_T9OtOfy_6jlWC9k7U_Kmv9fw1NgXicCMz201mn068S1A6Zm0hbtR/s1500/M-Allen-20230420-1021Ophrys%20fusca%20ssp%20vasconica2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdqCg41HnYWkXDdzrNvLDFLP03lnpYgeu_MSegu9kKRWXHerycmI5Cn97fAI0kXVs7dLiM4YRROhQJ__oQbeucBK0wQoE1QxL8pkO5JEb21HNbvyRUE6SeAez4pIKzZjklgF_T9OtOfy_6jlWC9k7U_Kmv9fw1NgXicCMz201mn068S1A6Zm0hbtR/w480-h640/M-Allen-20230420-1021Ophrys%20fusca%20ssp%20vasconica2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">So that's the end of this lovely day out. I hope you enjoyed me taking you along with me!</span><br />
<br /></div>Millymollymandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12990749863025598526noreply@blogger.com8