The people of the Ariège inhabit a wild and inaccessible corner of France; there is no escape from the narrow valleys and high mountains. But yet this is a landscape that for centuries has been subject to intensive human use. The discovery and dating of numerous charcoal pits and forges tell of a significant iron…
Category: French Wildlife
Le Route des Corniches
16th May 2022 Meadow clary has taken over the fields around the Eglise de Saint Martin on the small road from Luzenac to Verneaux and on up to Chateau Lordat. On the route des corniches from Lordat west to the villages of Axiat, Appy and beyond, the flora is emerging in the verges and abandoned…
Col de Pailhères 2
14th May 2022 The cyclists stream up the wide road from Ax-Les-Thermes to join the cars and camper vans at the summit; most walk up to the rock outcrops to take in the long views . The road from Ax is improved to cater for the skiers that come in great numbers to the Station…
Col du Pradel
6th May 2022 Coming up the small mountain road through the forest and up into the high pastures, the hillsides around the Col are transformed by a carpet of daffodils. There are also patches of ubiquitous broom, which the farmers are always trying to burn away in early Spring, and a scattering of flowering mezereon…
Col du Fajou
17 May 2022 The mountains above Col de Marmare are crossed by drovers’ paths which run through wide pastures. The grasslands are covered in elder-flowered orchids and gentians, woodlarks and tree pipits sing ceaselessly and the wall of sound is joyful. On the steeper slopes, juniper scrub is filled with territorial green hairstreaks that bound…
Valley of the Flowers
1st May 2022 La réserve naturelle nationale de la vallée d’Eyne rises through pine forests up into montane pastures and runs south to the Spanish border. Known as the ‘Valley of the Flowers’ this is one of the great sites of Pyrenean botany with a long history of surveys since the 18th century and today…
Col de Marmare
According to the cycle route websites, the route from Luzenac climbs 817m to the Col which is at 1361m some 16.7km away. This is the local patch and holds a diversity of habitats each with its own flora and fauna. As April turns to May, each is becoming richer; the changes since the cold days…
Le gypaète barbu du Quié
At the top of a long and bumpy track there is a wonderful view of the Ariège valley; the sounds of the traffic travel up from the village in the morning air. Soon they are drowned out by cowbells as a herd of cows and calves comes over the ridge; they graze for an hour…
The first brood of grey wagtails are out…
The local pair of grey wagtails that spend their days flycatching over the running water for lacewings and now mayflies have had a nest in a high wall behind the terrace of houses that looks out over the bend in the river Ariège. After a lot of noise recently from the anxious parents by the…
Col de Pailhères
The road winds up through the forests from Ax-les-Thermes eventually passing the Station de ski d’Ascou and the paraphernalia of winches and guide posts as well as the various ski runs. At the Col, and just above a small hameau of chalets, the road barrier is down even though the snow has cleared and the…
March and April in the Ariège
The bare forests of early March that carpet the valley sides were only lifted by early blossoming wild cherries and catkin-covered willows. The towns and villages were full of bright Forsythia and orchard blossom. At the end of March into early April, a few days of snow and frost laid waste to the blossom and…
Assault on the River Ariège
I’m not saying that the action on the pretty bend in the river Ariège resembles the Assault on Precinct 13, but the blackbirds are for a few days in mid April at each others throats all day; the chases are endless and dust-ups frequent. There are perhaps five territories all vying for the bushes, the…