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 month started off like most of April, with a lot of wet weather and very few sunny periods: so much so, that I hardly saw a butterfly until the middle of the month. Then on the 15th the weather suddenly changed for the better. There have been a couple of wet days since, but the weather has been mostly sunny. The plants have suddenly shot up, the meadows are full of flowers and butterflies and the farmers are very relieved that everything is now growing well. Up high, the snow has been melting: but because of late snow falls there is still quite a lot of snow left and the farmers estimate that every thing is 2 to 3 weeks behind.
BUTTERFLIES
Firstly I have to report that I forgot one species last month, the Moroccan Orange Tip, seen first on the 16th by Denis and Lydia, then by myself a few days later. This is a magical butterfly, with its pale yellow wings with orange tips always making me think of tropical butterflies.
During the first half of the month there was not a lot to be seen: however, in the sunny spells there were the usual species such as Swallowtail, Wood White, Orange Tip, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Wall Brown and Speckled Wood, all in low numbers. During this time just one new species was added for the year - the Marsh Fritillary - seen by Tim Nash in the Couserans.
Once the weather improved, numbers of butterflies still remained pretty low but quite a few new species were seen. On the 16th no less than 8 new species were added, Sooty Copper and Spotted Fritillary were seen by Tim. I spent a couple of hours on a limestone mountain side, mostly limestone grassland of various heights, ranging from closely cropped to long, semi scrub invaded and with one area of solid scrub. In some areas there are Juniper bushes, but it is mostly just open grassland. I had my best days’ butterflying of the year so far. I added Short Tailed and Provençal Short Tailed Blues, Adonis and Common Blues, Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak and Meadow Fritillary to the year list. I also saw several other species, including Bergers Clouded Yellow, which is typical of the limestone grasslands here; it, like the Adonis and Chalkhill Blues, uses Horseshoe Vetch as its larval host plant.
The next day at, of all places, the site where we are building an Eco house, I was walking up the track that will become our drive (where there are a couple of large shallow puddles near the end) when I noticed a Skipper type butterfly buzzing around. It had a dark orange jizz, so did not seem to be any of the Grizzled Skippers, nor Dingy or Mallow, all of which fly at this time of year. Could it be a Chequered ? I followed its flight carefully, it settled and, sure enough a Chequered Skipper!! In my future garden!! Boy was I delighted. I carefully inspected the edges of the puddles and was rewarded with another four Skipper species: Grizzled, Oberthur’s Grizzled, Dingy and Mallow, making 5 species in all. I hope this is a good omen for the building! Also mud puddling were Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail and Wood White - just to add a bit of glamour.
The next new species was Silver Studded Blue on the 27th. I also received a report of a Chalkhill Blue on the same day. The Chalkhill Blue does not fly at this time of the year, however the Provence Chalkhill Blue does (being double brooded). This was in the west of the department where the weather is more atlantic, and as I have no reliable records for this species even from the east of the department, I am not convinced that it was a Provence Chalkhill. I think it much more likely to be a hybrid between the Chalkhill and Adonis Blues, known as Polonus, which occurs from time to time, and which I have seen in southern England on the South Downs. The Large Wall Brown was seen on the 28th by Tim, with the last new species of the month, Provençal Fritillary, spotted by Tim on the 29th. Around this time the butterfly numbers were also starting to pick up and the commonest butterfly was the Small Tortoiseshell.
FLOWERS
May is the time of the Orchids, and even this year is no exception: there has been a good display of Lady Orchids, but the species of the month has to be the Man Orchid - I have never seen it so abundant. Other early orchids seen are Early Purple, Green Winged, Burnt Tip, Early Spider, Small Spider and Fly Orchids – most in good numbers. Sword Leaved Helleborine too is proving very common this year. Lydia found a small meadow with thirty to forty Early Spider Orchids.
Near the end of the month I drove by a large meadow that I have known for the last 13 years. Despite some draining it still looks pretty good. Yellow rattle density is definitely lower than before but the Lax Flowered Orchids are abundant as ever. It really is a fantastic sight and I never tire of stopping there.
Talking of Yellow Rattle, sadly there is no doubt that it is on the decline. I believe the reason for this is modern farming methods. Yellow Rattle is an annual and as such needs to set seed regularly to be able to survive. Before modern methods, the hay was cut over a much longer period of time and cutting started later. This allowed much more seed to be produced every year, ensuring the survival of the species. Now modern policy advises cutting meadows earlier and of course with modern machinery it is all done in a few days, often when the Yellow Rattle is in full flower. For me the Yellow Rattle is the Canary of the meadows, disappearing before our eyes, and so indicating important changes in the floral composition of this very important habitat. If changes are not made in the next few years, then these meadows will be changed or rather impoverished for a very long time, and if the farmers start to use fertilizers as well, then the loss will be much quicker and catastrophic.
Another important group of spring flowers here is the Gentians. This year they are very late, due to all the late snow, so as yet I have not seen a Trumpet Gentian in flower.
BIRDS
A lot of small migrants have arrived and the most noticeable this year is none other than the Nightingale. They seem to be singing everywhere there are bushes - I have never heard so many before. One day we went for a walk, for the best part of a kilometre, where there are abandoned fields and lots of scrub banks. There were Nightingales the whole way along. Often you could hear three of four singing nearby one another, all trying to out compete the others.
The Black Caps continue to put on a good display, and at the end of the month we discovered a pair of Black Redstarts nesting in a Virginia Creeper going up the back of our house. We have also seen a Spotted Flycatcher several times on a Fig tree near the house - it seems they are probably nesting next door.
The Swifts have arrived and are noisily proclaiming their presence. Screaming away as they fly up and down the road and over the gardens, chasing one another at high speed, they really look as if they enjoy life. One day I watched a Hobby chase a Swift, or rather several Swifts. They seemed to be almost playing with it, a dangerous game. In the end the Hobby fixed on one and chased him for someway before the two disappeared behind some trees. So I cannot tell you the outcome, but the Hobby did not seem to be gaining on the Swift as they went behind the trees.