A Bat's Life in the Touraine

 Sometimes they are fast asleep.

 

 Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Fr. Pipistrelle commune).

From November to April they hibernate in stable cold places with high humidity. By spring they will have lost a third of their body weight. Their hearts beat 15 times less rapidly and they only breath once every hour and a half.

 

Greater Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Fr. Grand rhinolophe). This bat may look asleep, but it knew we were there. It has drawn itself up a bit. A relaxed bat hangs on remarkably long legs.

Photo courtesy of my sister.

 

I cannot stress enough how important it is to not disturb hibernating bats. If you disturb them to the extent they fly then they are using the energy they need to get them through to spring alive. Do no speak if there is a bat present. Make as little noise and movement as possible. Do not deliberately go into a hibernation site just to see the bats and photograph them. If you want to see bats, do what I did, which was join a survey group, with an authorised person in charge.

A Common Pipistrelle in flight over our garden.

Sometimes they are active.

 

 Greater Mouse-eared Bat Myotis myotis (Fr. Grand murin). This is the largest bat species in France.

In spring they put the weight back on, before heading for their summer roosts. Some of them migrate just a few kilometres, others will go more than a thousand.

 

 Daubenton's Bat Myotis daubentonii (Fr. Murin de Daubenton).

 

In summer the females gather in maternity colonies. The mothers give birth to a single offspring per year, sometimes two. Only the females are involved in raising the young. The males live alone during summer or in small groups. Just as you must not disturb hibernating bats you must not disturb nursing mother bats.

This Daubenton's bat entered our bedroom when the window was open but the louvred shutters were closed. The best method of encouraging a bat in this situation to go back outside is to turn the light out, close the door and wait for them to fly or crawl back out of their own accord.

 

In autumn the males and females join one another and mating takes place and start checking out their hibernation sites.

 

 A Brown Long-eared Bat Plecotis auritus (Fr. Oreillard roux) hunting in our graineterie. I gather from an excellent lecture on bats that I attended recently that the population of this species is in freefall. It made me realise that I haven't seen one, or picked one up on the bat detector, for some years.

All the photos in this post are poor quality because I was being careful not to disturb the bats. No flash on hibernating bats, just the briefest possible time with a torch shone on them by my companion. 

 

A maternity roost of  Lesser Horseshoe Bats Rhinopholus hipposideros (Fr. Petit rhinolophe).

Photo courtesy of my sister.

All bats are protected in France, so it is illegal to disturb them or their roosts.

Look Out For Greater Star of Bethlehem in the Touraine Loire Valley

 Greater Star of Bethlehem Ornithogalum umbellatum (Fr. Dame d'onze heures).

Greater Star of Bethlehem is a bulb with pure white flowers. The French name refers to the way the flowers do not open until they are in full sun, and then close again each evening. The 6-8 leaves are long, narrow and grooved, with an obvious white stripe running along the groove. The starry white flowers, which appear from March to June, have a green stripe running down the middle of the underside of each petal, and are pollinated by insects.

The species can be found anywhere in France, in grassland, along roads and tracks, and amongst vines. It is native to central and southern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. Greater Star of Bethlehem likes poor clay soil that is low in humus.

In the Touraine Loire Valley it is not considered rare or threatened.

The plant is toxic, which is only a problem if you can't tell the difference between it and the much prized edible wild plant Ramsons (apparently it has been known...). Ramsons doesn't have the green stripe on the petals, the leaves are broad pointed ovals, it grows in damp woodland, and it pongs of garlic. But apart from that it's really hard to tell the difference...

 

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It is a lovely enough flower to have attracted the attention of the great Leonardo da Vinci, and there is a drawing of it in one of his notebooks.

Sainte Maure de Touraine, the Cheese

Sainte Maure de Touraine is the name of a town about 50 km from Preuilly sur Claise. It is also the name of one of our local fromages de chèvre (goats' cheeses), the others being Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, Selles sur Cher, Valençay and Chavignol. We've found that even people who have not liked the goats cheese they've tried in the past discover that they really like Sainte Maure de Touraine.

 

What grows together goes together. 

Sainte Maure de Touraine cheese goes very well with Vouvray wine.

 

Sainte Maure de Touraine is an AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) which roughly follows the boundaries of the old Province of Touraine. It has to be made by traditional methods - this means that all the cheese is made by hand from fresh ingredients, either on farms or in dairy co-operatives. There is an industrial version made in the same area, but this is called Sainte Maure (without the Touraine bit). We are surrounded by goats cheese producing farms, several of them prize winning and highly regarded, within a 5 kilometre radius around Preuilly.


The cheese is made in the shape of a log about 17cm (7") long and has a rye straw running through it to help support the cheese log as it is rolled in salt and ash. The straw is stamped with the name of the maker and the tradition is to use a knife that isn't too sharp to cut around the straw so it is left in the cheese. The industrial version doesn't have the straw.

Sainte Maure de Touraine cheeses just after having received their coating of ash and salt at the Limouzin Frères farm dairy near Le Petit Pressigny. They will be left to dry and mature in a controlled atmosphere room for about three weeks, before being sold at local markets and direct from the farm.

In other news: It snowed here yesterday!! Here's a photo from our attic window taken at 8:30 am. The last time it snowed here in March was 2018.

A Moss Outing to the Chateau de Brou

The Association de botanique et de mycologie de Sainte Maure de Touraine (aka Botamyco37) organised an outing to learn moss identification and to survey the species in the grounds of the Chateau de Brou. The outing was set for the afternoon of Saturday 1 March, which turned out to be freezing. But we survived, and surveyed about 20 species of moss. None were rare but they certainly highlighted the challenges involved in learning to identify mosses. A big thank you is owed to Franck the Forester, who led the outing and shared his expertise, and to Marie-Claude, who took on the task of writing it up afterwards, with help from me and Corinne, and corrections as necessary from Franck.

Mosses absorb four times as much carbon dioxide as the trees in the forest, so we should show them some respect. There are around a thousand moss species in France, of which only 14 have legal protection, due to their rarity. They are bioaccumulators so they can act as indicators of the health and age of a woodland, and they provide shelter for thousands of tiny organisms such as collembolas, which are vital to the rich biodiversity of the forest. Despite the way they thrive in damp shady environments, they are capable of surviving extended periods of drought.

 

Cypress-leaved Plait Moss Hypnum cupressiforme (Fr. Hypne cyprès). This one was found on dead oak but it is common in the forest on acid substrates ie bark and wood both living and dead. It is relatively easy to identify, with leaves that curve like claws.

A feather moss of some sort Brachythecium sp. This is a very difficult genus to identify to species level and you need to look at it under magnification. They are common early colonisers of disturbed pH neutral sites that have low pollution.

Silky Wall Feather Moss Homalothecium sericeum (Fr. Homalothécie soyeuse). Identifiable by the very long tapering point on triangular leaves that are pleated lengthwise. A very adaptable species that can be found in a wide variety of habitats.

Larger Mouse-tail Moss Isothecium alopecuroides (Fr. Isothécie queue de renard). An epiphyte that grows on bark, frequently at the base of tree trunks, but it can also be found on rocks.

Forked Veilwort Metzgeria furcata, not a moss but a hepatic, with green leaves. Hepatics differ from mosses by not having a central vein in their leaves. This species is epiphytic, sticking itself to smooth barked forest trees, especially Hornbeam in the Touraine.

A pocket moss of some sort Fissidens sp. The genus is distinctive and easy to recognise, but determining a species is difficult.

Common Smoothcap Moss Atrichum undulatum (Fr. Atric ondulé) can be distinguished from Polystrichum spp by its overall smaller size and translucent wavy tooth edged leaves.

Common Tamarisk Moss Thuidium tamariscinum (Fr. Thuidie à feuilles de Tamaris) grows in layers. It is typical of oak woodlands and is tolerant of a wide range of pH in the substrate so long as it is well drained.

Rambling Tail Moss Anomodon viticulosus, which is found at the foot of old trees, in the shade.

Common Striated Feather Moss Eurhynchium striatum (Fr. Eurhynchie striée) found on cool rich forest floors.

A Scalewort of some sort Frullania sp, with tiny (2 mm) brown leaves. This is a very common hepatic, not a moss, found on smooth barked trees such as Chestnut or Hornbeam, and is an acid indicator.

Look Out for Snakeshead Fritillaries in the Touraine Loire Valley

 

Last year the Snakeshead Fritillaries flowering coincided with widespread flooding so if you weren't in the right place on the right day you didn't get to see them because they were under water. This year the conditions have been much more to their liking, with flooding earlier in the winter. The flood meadows are still a bit squishy, but the Snakeshead Fritillaries are very happy and flowering well. 

Snakeshead Fritillary Fritillaria meleagris (Fr. Fritillaire pintade) is endemic to northern and central Europe. The species is an indicator of a damp habitat, and they favour flood meadows that are fertilized by silt in the winter. They can be found up to 1800 metres above sea level in several areas of France, but the Loire Valley is one of their most important strongholds. It is concentrated in the west of France. Until last year it had been considered extinct in Belgium for over a hundred years. 

The population and distribution of this species is reducing, because of intensive farming methods and the urbanisation of flood meadows. Annual surveys indicate that there are well over a million plants in western France, but numbers are declining. Snakeshead Fritillaries are protected either fully or partially in most of their area of distribution in France.

Look Out For Wild Daffodils in the Touraine Loire Valley

There is a big colony of Wild Daffodils Narcissus pseudonarcissus (Fr. Narcisse jaune) that flower reliably around this date in Chaumussay. They are easily visible from the greenway (Fr. voie verte) so there will be lots of people enjoying them as they pass. I was impressed to see that there is no sign of flowers being picked, so they are being left to be shared by everyone.

Wild Daffodils are the most abundant wild Narcissus species in Europe and they have dozens of vernacular names. The term 'jonquille' in French for this species was introduced for tourist promotion reasons in the Vosges, but it more properly applies to N. jonquilla, a different species with a southern (Mediterranean) distribution. Unfortunately the French media persist in using 'jonquille' when they mean the Narcisse jaune.

Wild Daffodils can form large colonies, growing in the forests and meadows, on grassy banks and roadsides. They are abundant in some areas, rare in others. Nevertheless they grow throughout France, up to about 2000 metres above sea level. The Vosges and Alsace are famous for their meadows covered in Wild Daffodils.

They are widely cultivated in gardens and the bulbs live for a long time if conditions are a bit damp. They are fully protected in the wild, or picking is regulated, in some areas of France. Garden varieties are usually hybrids, produced to give bigger flowers, more robust plants and a greater range of colours.

The plants contain a number of quite dangerous toxins. In bad cases, ingestion of the bulb can be fatal, and just sucking a stem can result in nausea and vomiting. The plants contain sharply pointed calcium oxalate crystals which irritate the digestive system and can cause skin rashes on contact. As a consequence they are not eaten by grazing stock. 

Since the leaves disappear as soon as seeds have set they don't pose a hazard if hay is cut in the summer from a meadow where they grow. The roots can form an important element of stabilising banks, slopes, ditches and streams.  

The perfume seems to have a narcotic effect on some people, but this has never been scientifically investigated.