French Butterfly Atlas - July update

Last weekend we went to complete the July survey for STERF, the French Butterfly Atlas project.

The outright star this month was the Gatekeeper, pyronia tithonus. It really stole the show....

They were so numerous we had to estimate rather than do an accurate count. Estimates were up in the 50s along some of the transects we survey.

A refreshing change was provided first by the Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria...

And then by a very attractive Sooty Copper, Heodes tityrus...

Colin was photographing a bee on Ragwort when a chance entrant took the limelight. We've not been able to identify it conclusively so would appreciate any help on this one...

I couldn't resist this last shot. It shows the boundary of one transect and although it is heavily managed woodland, I can't help but see it as magical in the sunlight..

Magic Roundabout 2

This weeks featured roundabout is again on a road we travel frequently between our house and Dissay (the home of Brico Depot). It is only a small roundabout on the D757 in the centre of the village of Lencloître. This years theme is obviously the beach.

 

The theme is continued in other areas of the village with small areas being decorated accordingly.

Given this is a small community of less than 2500 people, they have certainly made the village look good for the summer... Well done to them.

Courtesy of Google earth you can see what the roundabout normally looks like....

Kitchen worktops and tiles...

The kitchen worktops in our house are tiled with the same tiles that are used on the splash-back. We have never liked both the tiles or the tiled worktops since we bought the house. The tiling itself is not what I would consider to be professional; it is far from even.....

After much discussion about the kitchen and a look at a few kitchen outlets we are going to replace both items. Today we made a start on removing the first (and easiest) of the worktops...

As the tiles are on thick chipboard that has been screwed to the base units, they had to be removed. This done, it is a case of find the screws and unscrew.

Just when you think you have found them all one turns up in the most awkward of places to remove.. and then another...

It was, to say the least, difficult - and this was the easy one!

We have discovered that it can be done by dismantling the unit itself, so this was a good learning exercise. I have a feeling the next main worktops will NOT be straight forward...

Watch this space.....

Potager update ( Salad Area)

It is some time since I wrote about the potager, 28th May to be exact. Where has the time gone...  The four rows of potatoes have died off and we have been eating them since the 28th May. We have started digging the rest up for storing. Peas have been and gone ( Eaten and frozen.) Haricote beans are endless and our freezer is filling up fast. The rest of the produce we are picking and eating as required.

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers well!!!

 

 

 

My reservations about growing tomatoes outside were totally unfounded. I have never ever had so many tomatoes on each truss. Elizabeth has just picked seven pounds and as I write is looking for recipes!!! The majority of seeds I cultivated were English varieties which I wrote about here

My only minor disappointment is with the choice of cucumber. I should have had one which was F1 and did not need the male flowers nipping off.  They are incredibly difficult to spot and miss one and the cucumbers are bitter... There is always next year....

I have never had any success with peppers grown in the greenhouse but here they have done well. We bought the plants at a local market and one was a chili pepper.

Even the chilli's I planted from seed are beginning to flower.

We are fortunate to have had the well water to keep the potager watered during the very dry weather. It has definitely been worth the effort watering every night for what seemed like weeks...

Cheeky Woodpecker

Elizabeth noted the cache of cones and nuts under the pear tree earlier in the month. At the time we thought it could be mice... Wrong... yesterday evening the culprit was caught red headed as it were!!!

The juvenile greater spotted or middle spotted woodpecker was pinching our hazelnuts, placing them in a knot hole in the pear tree and breaking them open. A trait more common with greater spotted woodpeckers.

After it spotted me it was off leaving the evidence in the hole!!

 

However, in a pathetic attempt to save some of our hazelnuts, when it returns it will find it has been replaced by a stone.

Note on the Taupes... None caught as of today.... Looking like it may be the gas fireworks again!!

Taupes Episode 5 - After the drought....

Back in April I did everything to reduce the number of Taupes (moles) putting large amounts of soil on top of our nice green grass!! I thought I had had some success... Think again Colin; the only success was the dry weather which had made to ground like concrete. A decent amount of rain and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Over the last few days the mole hills have been appearing at an alarming rate.

 What a mess they make...

So its back to the traps...

The runs are located by pushing a stick into the ground and feeling for the holes. Once these are located the run is quickly exposed, a set trap dropped in and the gaps around filled. Speed is of the essence since moles can detect the fresh air...

So is wearing gloves as they also have an acute sense of smell.

My five traps where set yesterday with no success, two had been snapped but no moles. Moles are known on occasions to push soil in front of them which I assume must have happened on this occasion. Today I have moved and reset all five traps. 

We will see what tomorrow brings...

Aire de Loisirs

For some time now we've been meaning to follow a sign to the Aire de Loisirs, on the road between Braye and the neighbouring village of Braslou. Yesterday I cycled down to do some exploring...

A track leads through the sunflower fields down to a small lake, but at present it can hardly be called a lake..

The lack of rain over the past months has left a cracked basin where once there was water.

There were plenty of butterflies around and one beauty of a fly which I've not come across before.

By coincidence Susan mentions one very like it in Days on the Claise today. Perhaps this is one of "lookalikes"; a close relative of Gymnosoma called Ectophasia crassipennis.

As for the rest of the Aire de loisirs,  it comprised a hut, some benches and a few horse riding jumps in the far field.

We will explore it further when the rains have done their bit to restore life and interest to the area.