Tags
adonis vernalis, caselle, Causse Méjean, caussenard, Cevennes, common wall lizard, Dingy skipper, Early spider orchid, Escher's blue butterfly, Glanville fritillary, Gorges du Tarn, Hures, lavogne, Le Buffre, Northern Wheatear, Owlfly, Scarce swallowtail butterfly, Sword-leaved helleborine
Thursday, 30th May. No longer at the edge of the Causse Méjean, but on it. When Jean-Pierre picked us up at our hotel, La Lozèrette, he pointed ominously to the heights in the distance, shrouded in mist and rain. Our walk today was as on Kieron’s map, (photo taken later in the day), and described here. We started at Hures, bottom right, and went anti-clockwise.
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As we set off it was cold and drizzly wet, and there was quite a wind. Moving into the forest area provided a little shelter from the wind, but not the rain.
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I continued to take photos – but didn’t always get the focus right…
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When we came to a field or meadow, we would just divert and wander around to see what we could see.
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Standing water is very rare on the causses because (the considerable) precipitation flows down through the limestone. This circular pond is a lavogne (lavonha in Occitan), created by the caussenards and lined to provide a source of water for livestock.
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We walked through the pretty hamlet of Le Buffre. (A holiday gite is available there.)
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This is another of my favourite photos from the two weeks, the combination of bench, wall, flowers, former communal oven and local chimney.
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In due course the rain turned into showers, patches of blue sky appeared, and we found a spot to sit for lunch. This was the view as we looked back.
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It was pleasantly warm as we moved off afterwards.
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But what was this?! I was a little ahead of the others and saw in front of me what I thought might, from its flight, be a hummingbird hawkmoth. But no, it’s something I had never heard of, and we don’t have in the UK. It’s an Owlfly. But it’s not a fly. It’s a family all of its own, with some 450 species. About 3 cm long, excluding antennae.
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It had been quite a long walk, and, having slightly bypassed Drigas, we were pleased when we found ourselves back at the minibus. Jean-Pierre then gave us a surprise treat. By not taking the direct route back to our hotel, he drove us to a superb viewpoint over the Gorges du Tarn.
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It was a long zigzag drive down to the bottom, and at one point we were blocked by these. (Photo taken through window.)
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Back at my hotel, I took another photo from my balcony, in the late afternoon light.
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Tomorrow would be a very different day, with no walking!
As I said before – I’m in awe of your stamina! And you were rewarded with some lovely creatures and plants in this selection.
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As usual, I took many more photos than I’ve included here.
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You are showing us that you had chosen an excellent holiday. Good photo of the owlfly among a lot of interesting shots.
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I was so pleased that it settled and I could get a better look.
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Lovely
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A fine selection of plants and butterflies to enjoy on your energetic outing. Glad you were rewarded with a visit to the viewpoint, and that the weather had improved by then.
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It was breathtaking. Bad weather would certainly have diminished the pleasure.
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Une météo peu clémente, heureusement améliorée ensuite, qui a permis la photo du papillon parmi les gouttes d’eau. Belle observation que celle de l’ascalaphidé (pas de petit nom sympa en français…). L’illustration de la version française de Wikipédia correspond pile à ta photo !
Christine
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