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 during April was pretty good, with one extremely hot period towards the end of the month which saw a rapid advancement of spring. In fact the hot spell in April was the hottest weather recorded in April since 1947.
BUTTERFLIES
There are a lot of new species to add to the list this month. My first skipper was a Mallow Skipper, seen in the middle of the month on the path to my house, mud puddling (I’m going to have to leave a muddy area along the path once all the building is finished, its just too good to miss!) This was followed by Grizzled then Dingy Skippers at the same puddle! Also along the path there have been Holly Blues, Small and Green Veined Whites, another Large Tortoiseshell and several Small Tortoishells. The most spectacular along the path has been the Scarce Swallowtails and we had a flyby by an ordinary Swallowtail as well. The Scarce Swallowtails are about in very good numbers, I have seen them all over the place, even right in the centre of town at Tarascon (it is a small town!). Orange Tips and Brimstones were also seen in good numbers and on the last day of the month I saw my first Cleopatra of the year whilst climbing a hill with my daughter Eleanor. We were looking at a couple of hill-topping Scarce Swallowtails when suddenly the Cleopatra flew right in front of us, giving us a very clear glimpse of the orange flushing of the centre of the forewing.
Other species seen during the month were Wall Brown, Speckled Wood, Small Heath and Weavers Fritillary, the latter two right at the month end.
As for moths, Humming Bird Hawks were of course spotted from time to time and Tim Nash found a Tau Emperor, flying its fast erractic daytime flight, making one do a double take because at first glance in flight it looks just like a Silver Washed Fritillary.
FLOWERS
The flowers have raced away, making the most of the lovely warm weather to catch up from a late start. There has been loads of Purple Tooth Wort, sometimes with rosettes of the impressive purple flowers thirty or so centimetres across. This is a parasitic plant, on the roots of trees and only the flowers are ever seen. They are up to about 5cm high and very eye catching. All the mid spring flowers were seen: Cowslip and Oxslip, Meadow Saxifrage, Garlic Mustard, Ladies Smock and its close relatives that are found here, Wild Honesty and Greater Stitchwort. The wild daffodils have finished except for at higher altitudes and the Pheasants Eye Narcissi were flowering well towards the end of the month at about 700m altitude. Also on my hill climb with Eleanor, along with the Scarce Swallowtail and Cleopatra butterflies we found a number of Pyreneen Snakes Heads (Fritillary) in full flower, with their dark drooping flowers which are speckled yellow on the interior--wonderful. We also found a number of Orchid leaf rosettes but no flowers, so it looks as if we will have to go back up there in a few weeks to see what they are. Speaking of orchids, the Early Purple Orchid is well out and in good numbers, I suspect the Green Winged Orchid is also out but have no reports as yet. Early Spider Orchids have been spotted in the foothills and they should soon be out here along with Lady Orchids that were starting to send up their flower stalk at the end of the month..
BIRDS
A lot of activity from the small birds; the dawn chorus is marvellous. Loads of Black Caps as usual and quite a few Robins. The other bird that stands out is the Serin, with its song reminiscent of the Corn Bunting but which just goes on and on and on, often described as sounding like jangling keys. This is quite a plain bird until it flies then you seen the flash of its greenish yellow rump.
I have reports of two pairs of Lammergeiers with young and one pair that have not bred successfully this year probably due to the amount of snow which fell in their area. The Egyptian Vultures are back--there are now seven pairs recorded in the Ariège. I was lucky enough to see three flying together the other day. Why three and not the usual pair of birds? Normally, the birds pair up before they arrive here and once paired they stay together for life. The young birds remain in Africa for the first few years and it is only adults that migrate, so I wonder if the third bird was in fact a young adult that had failed to find a mate.