Graham Hart has lived in Ariege since May 1998 and has known the area since 1991.He has a life-long interest in natural history, which started with butterflies and birds and now includes other insects (especially moths) and flowers. He leads butterfly watching holidays in the region and is writing a book on the butterflies of Ariège. When not out chasing butterflies Graham works as a vet in Ax-les-Thermes.
The weather has been more seasonal, a heavy snowfall on the third that blocked the road to Andorra for two days. However as soon as the sun was out it was very warm, tee-shirt and shorts on some days. The snow on the mountains started to melt rapidly towards the end of the month.
BUTTERFLIES
I saw a Small Tortoiseshell whilst on my last skiing trip of the season on the 6th in Andorra, a very brave individual to be up on the ski slopes!! Down in the valleys early in the month the first of the Moroccan Orange Tips started to appear, also Dingy, Mallow, Grizzled and Oberthurs Grizzled Skippers. Large Wall Brown was added to the Walls which were first spotted in March. On the Blues front, Green Underside and Black Eyed Blues, for the Black Eyed Blue it is only the second record for Ariège, the first being made by me in 1996 during my MSc studies. The Black Eyed Blue occurs only in more Mediterranean climates, so is only found in the extreme east of the departement where I feel it is probably quite widespread since my two records are one from 300m altitude and the other at 1200m in the Querigut area.
FLOWERS
The first of the Orchids are now out, several species have been spotted during the month. Probably most common is the Early Purple but also common in limestone areas is the Early Spider Orchid and I have seen a couple of examples of araneola,considered by some to be a sub species of the Early Spider and by others as a separate species It is only about half the size of the Early Spider Orchid with a distinct yellow edge to the lip of the labellum. I have also checked out a site for Ophyris lutea where I found a plant not yet in flower. (I visit this same plant every year, it really is a beauty). There have been some good displays of Green Winged Orchids about, sometimes dotted about quite extensively over large areas of damp fields particularly on limestone.
The Meadow Saxifrage growing out of the old walls and along paths near us has been superb, along with masses of Garlic Mustard and Cuckoo flower in damp places. These two latter plants are two of the main food-plants for the Orange Tip butterfly which is ubiquitous here in spring. Wood Anemonies created carpets of white in a lot of woodlands and in other areas the Lungwort put on a magnificent display of the most fantastic vibrant blue.
At the end of the month I went up to Plateau de Beille, the snow was mostly gone and in its place were carpets of the endemic Pyreneen Buttercup, which has in fact white petals with a yellow center to the flower. At a slightly lower altitude there were absolutely masses of Violets, almost creating a purple haze in places, they were so dense.
BIRDS
At the end of the month at Plateau de Beille I saw my first Wheat Ears of the year, and down in the valleys spring is now in full swing and in the mornings the song of the Black Cap is the most frequent, there are masses of them here. From time to time the characteristic call of the Chiff Chaff is heard (its close relative the Willow Warbler does not nest here, it is something which I rather miss from my days on the South Downs where its lovely song was very common). The Egyptian Vultures have returned and are refurbishing nest sites. Their numbers have been increasing in the Ariège in recent years: six pairs are now known to nest here.