We recently spent a week in a Gite in the Pyrenees with 2 friends. I thought i'd run through the week in order (sort of)
Day 1
Arrived & unpacked & rushed to the nearest bridge over a river & found 2 Dippers, what a great start!
Day 2
It rained almost non-stop all day, a quick dash out in a short lull.
Day 3
According to the news there are floods everywhere with around 120mm of rain the previous 24 hours. Mudslides all over. However we weren't going to sit in all day so took a drive to a place we knew that did good food & on the way found some toads that didn't mind the rain,
we also disturbed this White Admiral (long way off)
& on the way home found a nice spot with a big fly on the cow dung
& highlight of a dull day was a Red-backed Shrike nearby!
Day 4
Suns out! Oh my goodness, you can see the hills all around & there are Vultures nearby, Griffons
& Egyptian
the rivers are still all very loud & busy
& we found a nice couple of dogs who picked us up in a village & walked around with us for about an hour & then went off home
In the afternoon we went off together for a drive to the Col de Somport to see Citril finches.
Day 5
An early morning trip to the loacal baker led to a pleasant suprise as we discovered the Vultures & Kites favourite take-away at the local rugby ground,
& after feeding they flew overhead to the cliffs closeby
They were amazing, I've never seen such big beautiful birds so close. We decided to get there at the start of feeding time the next day. However we went off for a walk & there were a few more butterflies around, a lovely Small tortoieshell
& more vultures flying around & on cliffs
In the afternoon we went to the lovely hilltop village of Aydius & took another dog for a walk (why us?)
She kept stopping for us & inevitably shared our biscuit we had with a cup of tea. We found a great auberge there too where we ate the next night. Still not many butterflies, but it wasn't very warm either!
Will stop there for now otherwise I might loose all this. part 2 tomorrow.
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Hazel C said:I'm not sure they have a dry season, just a little less wet!
Lol, very descriptive H!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
I'm trying to be loyal here! However when everything is always very green you have to ask yourself why! LOl
Just catching up - looks like you still had some great views and wildlife (and I trust food!), even if the weather wasn't the best. It's always the same, whether, the English Lakes, Scottish Highlands or the Pyrenees, you have to take what you get and mostly that's cloud and or rain, but that's why it is all green and so much nicer than parched rocky mountains ... well, for me anyway.
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Nige Flickr
Thanks Nigel, yes we had a couple of good meals out & really enjoyed it all, can't wait to get back there for another look around.
A lovely selection there, Hazel, so different to what I'm used to seeing up here. Looks like you had a very nice holiday.
My bird photos HERE
Thanks, Hazel, looks like your holiday was a good one despite a bit of rain! Love all the photos, especially of the Vultures and Kites. Any ideas about the state of Vulture conservation in the Pyrenees?
Kind regards, Ann
Thanks Ann & Paul.
They do quite a lot of work on the conservation side, there are often programmes about it on our regional television & the more rare one's don't have their nesting sites revealed etc for their protection. Sadly there will always be some gun owners who choose to shoot protected species, but the various wildlife agencies do their best!