We've been back from Italy for several weeks but I have only just got around to downloading my photos! That is partially because we both came back with rotten colds, which may or may not have actually been Covid as they were not the same as normal colds - I did do a test but by the time we got around to getting one from the pharmacy, it was 10 days since I had caught Keith's cold and the results were negative. Anyway, it left me feeling drained although I am glad to say we are both feeling much better now.
I found some photos from July and August on my camera so I am sharing those now, before I get back to reporting on our Spanish trip.
I decided to try shooting butterflies in flight, but you know how it goes - you go outside to do so and where are the butterflies? Well exactly. I shall have to try again next year when there are more butterflies around. This summer was so hot and dry that I didn't see that many butterflies in the latter half of the summer, and it was too hot to go out for walks. A bit of a wasted summer in that respect (although the pool was nice and warm, see above. 😀)
I did get a reasonable shot of a Long Tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) in flight - interesting because they usually sit with their wings closed. If you open up the collage you can just see its little tails. The other picture is of a more worn specimen which is lacking its tails and eye spots at the base.
October has been a very pleasant month with temps mostly in the low 20Cs and lots of sunshine. Just before we went away we had an enormous amount of rain which was sorely needed - I think it was about 50mm (2 inches) so when we came home it was very green everywhere which was so nice after the dry summer. There are still a few butterflies around, one of which is the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) which is below taken on wild oregano, back when it was flowering.
This is a Rough Saddle Bush Cricket (Uromenus rugosicollis) on a garden waste bag. Love its eyes! Also, I've just remembered - I don't have a photo but we found a gecko in the garden - it was on a watering can that I was carrying around at the time! I thought they were only found in the coastal areas so that was a real surprise. Haven't seen one since though there are lots of young Wall Lizards around.
And whether it is the heat or what, I don't know, but I have seen lots of Preying Mantises (Mantis religiosa) this summer. There are probably lots more, but look how well it is camouflaged against the colours of the plant! Often I spot them because they are on a wall, or have just flown out in front of me to land in a plant. If they don't move, they are very hard to notice.
My indoor orchids are doing really well. The Odontoglossom below is one of the fancy ones I bought at the plant fair last year so I was really pleased to see it come back into flower again, although these flowers didn't last very long (about two weeks) and are actually going over in this photo.
This is a Phalaenopsis that came back into bloom for the first time, so I didn't even know what colour it was going to be! These blooms are really huge ones.
My favourite purple Dendrobium flowered its face off before we went to Italy and this time, instead of the usual 5 or 6 flowers on each stem, it had loads of flowers, I think about 11 or 12 on each stem! When we came back it was just going over but has two more flowering stems which have just started flowering!
Three of my other Phalaenopsis are about to flower yet again, having already been flowering for four to five months earlier this year, and my fancy Jewel Orchid (Ludisia discolor) with the stripey leaves (you can just see it in the foreground below) has a bud on it.
I can honestly say that at the moment I have really green fingers where orchids are concerned. 💜 I am being very good about watering and feeding them regularly, and have been repotting some of them, which might help!
But how was Italy, you may be asking? It was really enjoyable and made a nice change from Spain and France. However, the amount of tourists in some places was incredible; I absolutely dread to think what it is like there during the school holidays! It was also very green everywhere which was surprising and the weather, whilst sunny, was very humid which wasn't so nice. As for the Roman sites we visited, they are out of this world. You'll have to wait until I finish blogging about our earlier Spanish travels first though! 😀
It's been so hot these last four weeks that we haven't been anywhere interesting, not even for a walk. It's a bit sad to not be able to enjoy summer to the full, although we did have a few cooler days recently so I got a chance to do some jobs in the garden. We still have the works going on in the basement so perhaps it's as well that it is hot as we need to be around most of the time to answer queries, make coffee and generally keep an eye on things! I'll post some pictures about that later on when it's all finished.
This first pic was taken on 28 June when the broom was flowering in the grassland across from our house. The tree line behind the broom towards the top is someone's garden, however the trees are spreading/selfseeding into the meadow from their garden too.
I had a wander up the road, pleased to see that there were more wild fennel plants than a few years ago. And then I discovered three Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) caterpillars on one small plant! I often search for them but it's the first time I have ever seen any on wild fennel.
Back in the garden I thought I would have a bash at shooting butterflies in flight. Well I failed miserably at that. Butterflies are way too erratic with their movements! I was using my Lumix bridge camera and maybe I need to try again with my Canon dslr and on an even faster speed. I think I need to set it on the tracking setting, although I never had much luck with that when I tried it before.
Anyway, for the buzzy things which hover or pause, even for a very short time, I did much better with the Lumix than I had imagined. I was really pleased with the camera.
Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum). As usual, the insect photos are worth clicking on to view larger as there is far more detail in the larger photos.
Beefly - I don't know which species but it could be of the Bombylius genus. I don't think it is Bombylius major which I see in the spring. It would help if I had captured the markings on the wings! I currently see two sizes of beefly at home and this is the larger one.
A Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) being photobombed by a tiny bee or wasp!
These large bees have been around in the garden for about the last two weeks. They are the Giant Resin Bee (Megachile sculpturalis) and they are only interested in the Russian Sage (Perovskia) which is a bit odd! These solitary bees use holes in wood to make their nest chambers, but have not discovered my bee hotel - yet.
They have really cool wings which are clear near the body of the bee and dark brown further away.
And this is the largest bee we see, the Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea). This one seems to like my ornamental Sage 'Hot Lips' better than any other plant in the garden.
I managed a shot of this unknown tiny bee on a Cat Mint flower. It has pretty eyes (you'll probably need to click on the photo to view.)
This is a medium sized bee that I was lucky to capture. It must be a leafcutter bee as the following day that hole it was in was filled in, and covered over by small bits of cut leaf, like the other two holes. I have seen a bee in and out of those holes before but it was too fast for me to see it properly, so I am pleased I got this picture! The next day there was a fourth hole filled in so I’m guessing it’s just one egg chamber per hole.
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We then drove to the village of Laurac, which is on my side of the plain and only 15 mins from home. Laurac was an important village in medieval times and was the capital of the Lauragais region (much of the plain south of Toulouse), but it was also a Cathar village, subjected to the horrors of Simon de Montfort and the crusade against them, which I explained in my last but one post.
We didn't have time to look around the village but it looks really pretty. Look at those Valerians growing out of the walls! Next time we come here to see the orchids, we will have a wander around the village.
Ian had discovered a field near the village full of Military Orchids, so we walked up a very steep hill with many orchids growing in the verges on the way up, including these Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera).
Man Orchids (Orchis anthropophora) - the one on the right was exceptionally yellow - they can be dark pinky red through to a beigey yellow colour. There are also some Bee Orchids in the first photo for scale - Man Orchids can be very tall.
In the field full of Military Orchids (Orchis militaris). There were some Military x Lady Orchid crosses in this field too, but I am not sure if I have a photo of one as they are not that easy to tell which is which without an expert! There were various different colours as you can see in this photo.
Click on the image to enlarge it then look inside the flower of the white Military Orchid - can you see a little alien face? I think it's delightful! Both these are the same species (I think), just different colours.
Looking across the plain to the Montagne Noire.
Clockwise from top: Laurac from the Military Orchid field; Owly Sulphur Owlfly (Libelloides coccajus); Tassel Hyacinth (Leopoldia comosa), a species found in the Med region.
We then went up to the highest point in Laurac, to a hillside we visited last year which was full of orchids. At first glance, it seemed disappointing as the hundreds of Long-lipped Tongue Orchids were not in abundance like the previous year, as it seemed the top of the hill had been recently grazed. However, the hillside proved to have a lot of goodies!
Clockwise from top left: Narbonne Flax (Linum narbonense); Pheasant's Eye (Adonis annua); Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera); Six-spot Burnet Moth (Zygaena filipendulae).
View to Laurac top, and distant view of my village, Fanjeaux, bottom.
We discovered quite a few of these beautiful Pink Butterfly Orchids (Anacamptis papilionacea) growing on the hillside.
And some more of the gorgeous Ophrys bertolonii subsp. magniflora.
Niall and one of our group taking photos of the Pink Butterfly Orchids.
Another amazing day out and I'm still enjoying learning about the orchids and other wildflowers found in this region. Writing this blog helps me with learning about them as I look them all up once they have been identified. Whether I retain that knowledge or not is another matter!
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Mont Carrière isn't a mountain, it's just a hill no higher than our own village, which is only a few kilometers away. It's known for its wild orchids and we have visited several times, and I blogged about it in 2021 when we visited in April. It was interesting this time to see it a month later, with different plants in bloom.
As we didn't fancy the long uphill walk, we decided to drive partway up the farm track as we have 4-wheel drive. When we got to a place where we could park, we discovered there was another field entrance, this one leading to a tarmac road (albeit a very small, rough lane). It turned out we could have avoided the rough track coming up this way, as we discovered driving home on the proper road! It's in the Faves of our SatNav now. 😀
Looking towards our village, Fanjeaux.
What I love so much about this area is that initially we were walking along beside arable fields on a brown dirt track with long rough grass on the sides, when suddenly the brown dirt on the track gave way to white chalk and the long grass gave way to garrigue vegetation, particularly on the south facing slope - Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, Curry Plant and much more. The decidious trees up here were mainly Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens) which likes dry limestone soils in a Mediterranean-Oceanic Climate, which is pretty much what we have here.
Fanjeaux from Mont Carriere, a green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) and a Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia).
As far as orchids were concerned it was a little disappointing, as whilst there had been a nice selection of orchids in April, in May there were only two orchid species coming into bloom that we could find. Below is the Long-lipped (or Ploughshare) Tongue Orchid (Serapias vomeracea).
And this is the Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). We have both these species in our lawn!
Looking towards the plateau at the top of Mont Carrière, with Fanjeaux to the right and the Corbieres hills in the far distance.
There were tons of Owlflies flitting about, although they are quite hard to photograph as they don't stop for long when they do perch! Keith's photo has a nicer background than mine. This species is called the Owly Sulphur (Libelloides coccajus). Owlflies are part of the insect order Neuroptera, which includes the Lacewings, Antlions and Mantisflies - in my opinion some of the coolest insects to be found!
Photo credit: Keith Allen
Because this is an orchid walk, there were a number of info boards showing different species found here.
Wild Gladioli (Gladiolus illyricus), a gorgeous Barbie pink, though this specimen was past it's best. It was the only one I could get close to though.
On the plateau we remembered there being lots of Swallowtails the previous times we visited, and there were still plenty flying around, this Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) and also the regular Swallowtail (Papilio machaon).
Photo credit: Keith Allen
On the highest part of the plateau there is a 360 degree view and these info boards showing what is in each of the four directions is really handy, naming all the hills and mountain peaks. Here we are looking towards the Montagne Noir. We could see the Pyrenees on the opposite side, but the clarity wasn't great (it is at its best in winter).
This is a really pretty plant - it is Dropwort, or Fern-leaf Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris) which is closely related to Meadowsweet, another Filipendula. It likes dry pastures and chalky soil.
Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum), a wild garlic of the Mediterranean region.
Another view looking towards Fanjeaux with a bit of the Pyrenees to the right and the Corbieres to the left, and garrigue plants in the foreground.
On our return, once back into the grassy arable area, we spotted a few of these delightful Narbonne Star-of-Bethlehems (Ornithogalum narbonense). I love the stripy buds!
I just love this time of year! We will be away for three weeks in June, going all around the Pyrenees on both the Spanish and French sides, so I am looking forward to the mountain wildflowers and hopefully lots of butterflies! I have one more post to go after this but I will probably go quiet for a while after that.
