Monday 2 June 2014

The Nature of the Touraine Loire Valley in June

Sunrise 6am, sunset 10pm.

Hawk Moths will be on the wing. The most commonly seen is the Hummingbird Hawk Moth Macroglossum stellatarum, but there are several species that you may encounter. The confection in pink and mustard (below) is a Small Elephant Hawk Moth Deilephila porcellus, photographed in our backyard last year. The name comes from the resemblance of the caterpillars to an elephant's trunk, not because the adult moth bears any likeness.
Newly fledged baby birds will be sitting around in gardens looking vulnerable. This one is a young Black Redstart just outside our back door on the day it fledged from the nest in our graineterie.
If you are lucky you might get to see a cicada, but mostly you will just hear them. This one was lurking in the redcurrant bushes at a friend's house in late June last year. It's a female Tibicina haematodes (la Cigale rouge in French).
Average maximum temperatures should be in the low 20°s and average minimum about 16°, with more than 200 hours of sunlight for the month.
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French Expression: Pile-poil = spot on/within a hair's breadth.

2 comments:

GaynorB said...

Redcurrants aren't ripe yet but there are lots of them. You are welcome to yourself.

Tim said...

We've had baby birds everywhere for the past couple of weeks - wrens, blackbirds, black redstarts, wagtails, stonechats... Baron didn't know the difference between a baby wren and a vole, alas. He's back on the voles now. They're everywhere too. P.

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