Loire Valley, France - 7th to 18th June

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi all,

I've just booked a holiday for June in the Loire Valley at Varennes-sur-Loire, near Saumur, between Angers and Tours (and I can't wait!)

Can anyone (Elaine, Roger maybe?) recommend any sites to visit in the area? I'm driving down and so will have use of a car.

Thanks,

Lee

[Elaine]

Bonjour Lee,

I'm afraid my knowledge of sites is local to my area only. However, I have been doing a bit of surfing for you and have come up with a couple of ideas. One giving details of the butterflies recorded in the Maine et Loire area and the other giving a list of "Natura 2000" registered sites.

Hope these help. I haven't worked out how to post the hyperlinks as I would normally like to! Where am I going wrong?


http://www.lepinet.fr/especes/depart/in ... e=l&dep=49

http://natura2000.environnement.gouv.fr ... FR512.html

If your French is good, then this website may be of interest - good photography and, if you click on the camera and book icons below the image it takes you to a description of the species with details of food plants etc. http://demons-et-merveilles.fr/galeries ... eres1.html

Elaine

[Lee Hurrell]

Wow, thanks Elaine! Your links work fine.

My French is not that good (I can get by but luckily my girlfriend's is better) but those sites throw up some wonderful possibilties. It appears I'm staying in the middle of a natural park and not too far from the river so I should have plenty of sightings to report!

Interesting that Scarce Swallowtail is listed for the region - Tolman does not list that as far north in France. Do you see them in your area?

Many thanks,

Lee

[Elaine]

Hi Lee,

Glad I could be of some use!

No, we don't get "Scarce Swallowtail" here - just have to put up with the old "Common Swallowtail' in our garden! Poor us!

In fact, south of here I understand that the Common Swallowtail is more scarce than the Scarce Swallowtail!

I do a lot of agility competitions in the Loire, so I hope to see a Scarce Swallowtail flit by one day - hope it isn't during my round, as it may cause me to get eliminated!

Have a great holiday - I look forward to seeing your species list and photos on the forum later this year.

Elaine

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks again Elaine.

I will of course post some sightings and photos on my return.

I went back to Tolman last night and the maps between the Festoons and Scarce Swallowtail are mixed up in the book (I found some customer comments on Amazon on this too), so he does list Scarce Swallowtail for Loire.

Cheers

Lee

[Elaine]

I have heard it said that in most parts of France the Scarce Swallowtail is common and the Common Swallowtail is, in fact, scarce! So for my country I have the scarce one!

[Roger Gibbons]

Whilst this area is not the richest in France, which has some 240 mainland species, according to Lafranchis there are quite a number of rare and interesting non-UK species listed as occurring in these départements such as False Ringlet, Hermit, Pearly Heath, Blues including Reverdin’s, Large, Alcon, Short-tailed, Mazarine, Scarce Large, Chequered and Large Chequered Skippers, Scarce Swallowtail, Red Underwing Skipper, Mallow Skipper, Map, Southern White Admiral, Lesser Purple Emperor, Fritillaries including Meadow, Knapweed and False Heath.

There are also most species that occur in the UK, many of which are common in France such as Heath and Glanville Fritillaries. Best is to look up areas on the map shown in green and just explore woodland verges etc. Roadside verges, often flowery in France, are usually quite rich, around lakes for species such as Lesser PE, False Ringlet and maybe Large Copper – any water is usually good.

The Lepinet list that Elaine gave the link to shows 114 species that have been recorded in Maine-et-Loire. The list I have given above is from Lafranchis where these species have been recently recorded. Some old records tend to be historical (e.g. haven’t been seen there since the 1970s and almost certainly no longer occur there).

June should be a good month. If you spot flowery meadows, there are almost certainly going to a good number of species there. In France, they tend to rotate meadows and many will still be uncut in June (judging by rural practices in mid-France).

I would suggest you take photos of everything you see, as identifying some species in the field, especially blues, will be nigh on impossible.

[Lee Hurrell]

Many thanks for your reply Roger, much appreciated. I'm really looking forward to exploring the area. Whilst it is a family holiday, I should be able to get some good butterfly time in.

All of the species you list I've noted down in a list of possible sightings from Tolman and I have quite a mouth watering list of possibilties!

With regard to the identifications, I certainly will photograph all I can and look forward to the discussion afterwards!

Thanks again,

Lee