Orchids and Company

Walked up the valley behind Taychel on Sunday (3rd May) a little too early for the full orchid show but spotted a few none the less.
The first to catch our eye was not an orchid but a broomrape, its curious chlorophyll-less display makes one uneasily feel as though you are looking at something very old. Apparently it is a parasite.. perhaps of the broom plant?






The next neat little beauty is a burnt orchid, petit and perfect.










Left is a man orchid, a yellow one. Up on the hill opposite the house there are also red ones. Well with red 'men', the little creatures with arms and legs dangling from each floret.











This is an early bee orchid I think, whatever its name it is such an harmonious plant to look at, art in nature.





Then we had a surprise, flitting about above the meadows where we found the orchids and only there, were these little cropped dragonflies which we had not seen before. They are about an inch across and there were only about a dozen of them in all. Anyone else know what they are? The camera finally caught one resting and only then could we see that the ragged yellow wings where in fact yellow painted lace and the flashing body a fierce golden mask and armour to discourage predators.

If you go down to the woods today!

While walking in the woods on the northside of the valley between Lieurac and Le Sautel we came upon this incredible sight. Actually 3 of us walked over it and would have missed it altogether if our sharp eyed son had not spotted it.
A moving chain of caterpillars about 6 - 7 meters long in all. Slowly crawling up the hillside nose to tail in a continuous chain.
Some of them we had unwittingly stepped upon and the chain was broken where the caterpillars were injured. We carefully removed the injured ones and put them out of their misery and joined up the chain again by putting the next caterpillars in contact with the preceeding ones and off the living chain went again.
The video above seems a little faster than they were actually moving but it gives a general impression of what was happening.
None of us had ever seen or heard of anything like this before.. comments will be most welcome.

Février

Winter comes slowly to our valley, protected as we are by the fold of the Plantaurels between us and the mountains.
The outlines of the trees slowly emerge as the leaves gently fall and by Christmas the woods are a mosaic of olives, purples and browns. Once more the picturesque église at Carla de Roquefort can be seen up the valley, nestling in the shelter on the hills.

The valley of the Douctouyre connects the villages along its route, not only geographically but also socially. The valley shares its schools, each village hosting a class and sharing in the ferrying of the children from one village to another. It is like an extended small school system and is is attracting young families back to live in the country.

Along the secluded banks of the river in the summer, kingfishers flash and children and adults alike splash in its rocky shallows and cool off in its refreshing pools.
But in the winter, the river roars after heavy rain, tumbling away the arches and serpent at le jardin extraordinaire, wiping the slate clean for the coming year. It spills over into the fields adding another dimension to our landscape, back lighting the forms of the trees and reflecting the strong winter sun to dazzle and delight.

And from mid January the little snow drops begin to appear, first in small clumps and finally in shining carpets of green and white.
Delighting the eye and whispering gently that spring is not far away.