April started with a great blizzard and remained cold for a week or so; when the sun returned and temperatures lifted, the fishermen took to the rivers, trees came into leaf and the first flowers appeared on the bare alpine grasslands. The most captivating was Lady of the Snows Pulsatilla vernalis with vivid, white hairy…
Tag: Ariège
Postcards from the Ariège – March 2022
I spent March 7th to May 19th 2022 and May 20th to July 8th 2023 based at Luzenac in the Ariège Mountains. This then is the first monthly review; a chance to take a another look at this great, mountain wilderness that is so rich in biodiversity. March in 2022 is surprisingly warm and often…
Great storms and butterflies at Trimouns, Luzenac
Above Luzenac near the end of the road to the huge talc quarry, there is a track that runs east below some mature beech woodland. There are fine views to the south across the valley of the high mountain chain and the storms that build over them each afternoon. The clouds run in from the…
Wet meadows in the Pyrénées-Orientales
2nd and 4th June 2023 The road to Spain and Andorra from Ax-les-Thermes is a busy, twisting road up a magnificent, mountain valley. Before the turn to Andorra, the main road to Barcelona cuts through a long tunnel which opens into a wide and open valley totally different in character to the steep valleys of…
Ariège’s Resurrection Plant
Sunday 2nd July 2023 The Biros valley in the western Ariège is the nearest location to find Ramonda myconi according to to the excellent Biodiv’Occitanie website; this is the sister plant to the Ramonda serbica, which I was excited to find on the hills to the south of Lake Skadar on the eastern edge of…
Around Mijanès
Col de Pailhères at an elevation 2,001 m is an arduous but popular 20km cycle ride from Ax-les Thermes or a shorter but more strenuous one, with some remarkable hairpin bends, from Mijanès on the other side. At the summit, the support vans wait for the groups of exhausted riders with a table of refreshments….
Red squirrel
Normally red squirrels Sciurus vulgaris hide behind the far side of the tree trunk on approach but this one, near Quérigut was confiding and perhaps more concerned with extracting seeds from a fir cone. The main predators of red squirrels are pine martens. In most of England and Wales, the reds have been steadily ousted…
Aston Valley
22nd June 2023 The sun is out in the high Aston Valley and the alpine plants are appearing in the grasslands and wet flushes. There is abundant bistort Bistorta officinalis but no violet coppers Lycaena helle here (or anywhere). It is a popular place because of the small road, built to service the hydro-electricity dams…
Griffon Vultures in the Ariège
Vultures seem to appear out of the blue; they are entirely silent and move remarkably quickly across the deep valleys and along the high slopes. Each bird watches everyone else and when one arrives there are soon more in train. At Col de la Core, the gateway to Mont Valier a group of upto 15…
Alcon Blues and Red Helleborines
Up a small track above Caussou, you pass through damp streamside woodland, rocky limestone grassland and then drier woodlands. There are also pastures edged by miles of electric fencing; the farmer and his family have been moving the herd regularly in the past few weeks as these are quickly grazed off and trampled; turned from…
Col du Pradel and upper Rebenty valley
23rd June, 2023 This is my favourite Col, with a narrow road that in places is now deep in cow manure as the herds have been moved up to the mountain grasslands for the summer; each is about 30 to 40 grey, white cows, many with huge bells hung round their necks, accompanied by their…
To the summit of Col de Fajou
Sunday 25th June The weather is perfectly clear all day and in the mid afternoon I climb the Col de Fajou; it is more of a large, whaleback of a hill than a mountain but still a few hours up to the base of the cliffs and then a dog leg round to the summit…