More Photos from the Puys du Chinonais

The Puys du Chinonais are so interesting botanically that I thought they deserved a second post. The first one can be read here.

The reserve has species which are only found on sandy sites, such as Sand Catchfly Silene conica.

 Sand Catchfly.

Sedum ochroleucrum (Fr. Orpin à pétales dressés), 

one of the common stonecrops on the site.

Coronilla minima (Fr. Coronille naine), smaller and rarer than its lookalike 

Horseshoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosum also on site.

This Broomrape Orobanche sp was growing right next to Field Eryngo Eryngium campestris (Fr. Panicaut) and digging the plant up proved that it was parasitising the Field Eryngo, thus establishing that it was the rare and localised Sand Broomrape O. arenaria. Without digging it up we could easily have assumed it was the equally rare Thyme Broomrape O. alba as Breckland Thyme Thymus serpyllum (Fr. Serpolet) is everywhere on the site, scenting the air in a most delicious way when you inevitably step on it. François' top tip for identifying wild thymes is: Breckland = round stems hairy all over; Large (T. pulegioides) = square stems hairy on the angles; Wild (T. polytrichus) = square stems hairy on the faces.

Sand Broomrape, showing the root ball.

The site is managed to maintain populations of certain 'star' species. This pile of grass clippings acts as habitat for reptiles and small mammals, but is there because this section of the site must be mowed and the clippings raked up to keep the rare Pasqueflower Pulsatilla vulgaris thriving. Ideally the site should be grazed instead, but managing it has proved impossible so far.

Grass clippings.

To my considerable surprise there is a large patch of wild Gooseberry Ribes uvo-crispa and Red Currant R. sanguineum growing in the woodland section. I was assured that this is a genuinely wild population, not garden escapees, and that the two species occur in many cool shady places throughout the Touraine. It never fails to amaze me how many plants one can find here growing wild that have been adopted by gardeners world wide. The Touraine is truly the garden of France.

Gooseberries and Red Currants.

Botany Outing to the Puys du Chinonais

Thursday 14 May was a public holiday in France so the Association de Botanique et de Mycologie de Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine and the Société Botanique Ligérienne organised a joint outing to survey the flora of the Puys du Chinonais for the Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels, who manage the site. We've been there before, but it is such a rich botanical area that it is always a pleasure to go again.

Twenty or so botanists gathered in the carpark by the fire station on the edge of Chinon and then we set out in convoy up into the low hills to the north-west. The Puys are a series of hard limestone ridges with sloping sandy sides, criss-crossed by a confusing grid of dirt tracks. You have to know where you are going to navigate through the vineyards and gypsy encampments to get to the nature reserve.

 Vineyards come right to the edge of the reserve.

Once there, the botanising started immediately, in the carpark, with some charming little pink Sand Catchfly Silene conica (Fr. Silene conique). It is only found on sandy ground. The next plant of interest was the fine grey green leaves of Seseli montanum (Fr. Séseli des montagnes). It will flower in July so at the moment it is just foliage a bit like carrots, to which it is related (one of its English names is Moon Carrot). A little later we come across another rare and protected umbellifer, Honewort Trinia glauca (Fr. Trinie glauque). It is flowering, looking a bit like tiny florist's baby's breath.

Already a pattern is emerging. This site is full of plants that 'shouldn't' be here. They 'should' be at the beach or in the mountains or much further south in the heat and dry. That's what makes the site so interesting -- all these species that are unexpectedly present and thriving, and a significant number of rarities too.

 White Rockrose in the grass.

There are also plants which provide food for insects with very particular tastes. The ground is covered in places with Horseshoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa (Fr. Hippocrépide à toupet). This is the larval foodplant for the beautiful Adonis Blue Polyommatus belargus (Fr. le Bel-Argus) butterfly, and the small irridescent blue males are flitting about everywhere. The presence of these two species tells you that the substrate is dry and calcareous. If it wasn't they wouldn't be here.

We encounter several species of Sedum, some ubiquitious, some rare, and Rockroses of several species. The White Rockrose Helianthemum apenninum (Fr. Hélianthème des Apennins) is everywhere in the grass, the yellow flowered Hoary Rockrose H. oelandicium (Fr. Hélianthème des chiens) is much smaller and restricted to exposed rocks in the ground where it clings on with apparently no soil.

 Arenaria grandiflora.

Arenaria grandiflora (Fr. Sabline à grandes fleurs) is a pretty white flower with greyish leaves that would grace any alpine garden. It is found in isolated pockets from the Mediterannean to Fontainebleu. A national study and survey to determine the genetic variation of the species discovered that the Tourangelle plants and those at Fontainebleu are the same. Given how isolated each population is, this was a bit of a surprise.

As we progressed through the site, François Botté, who was leading the outing, pounced on plant after plant. For each he had a tip to aid identification or a story about some interesting research. The genus Globularia has been reclassified into the Plantain family and our local species is no longer G. vulgaris (now restricted to plants in Siberia) but G. bisnagarica (Fr. Globulaire allongée). The protected species Violet Limodore Limodorum abortivum (Fr. Limodore à feuille avortée) is a parasitic orchid which instead of photosynthesising takes its nutrition from the mycellium ('roots') of Brittle Gill Russula spp fungus, which in turn are in a symbiotic relationship with surrounding trees (taking carbohydrates in exchange for certain micro-nutrients). Broomrapes Orobanche spp, on the other hand, wrap their root ball around their host and subsume their roots. To accurately identify an Orobanche it is necessary to dig the plant up and see what it is actually connected to (François deployed the tip of his umbrella for this task). None of the available identification keys are reliable in all cases and identifying an Orobanche by guessing that its host plant is what is growing next to it or by matching it to a picture or photo is also not reliable.

 A colony of Violet Limodore.

We also got tidbits like old wheat fields (presumably with specimen oak trees present) were once the best sites in the Touraine to find truffles, but now these fields have had 50 years of fungicide there is no chance of finding good truffles in the wild. We found a Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podilirius (Fr. le Flambé) and François told us they and their cousins the Swallowtail Papilio machaon (Fr. le Machaon) are both declining because of habitual disturbance (ie gardening or farming) to their larval host plants such as carrots and plum trees, and because the adults are commonly hit by cars.

Field Pepperwort Lepidium campestre (Fr. Bourse-de-Judas) has seeds that look like old fashioned tractor seats according to François. He didn't make anyone taste it, but he did offer me and some others some Clematis flammula (Fr. Clématite brulante). Boy was it peppery! Apparently in the south of France it was eaten in the old days. Later we came across a patch of wild Gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa (Fr. Groseillier à maquereau) and Red Currant R. rubrum (Fr. Groseille à grappe). Sadly the berries were well green, so no opportunity to sooth our zinged out tongues!

 Photographing a very co-operative Scarce Swallowtail resting on François' finger.

We saw 8 species of orchid in flower on the site and caught the last of a special patch of Pasqueflower Pulsatilla vulgaris (Fr. Anémone pulsatille) still out. The pompom seedheads were testiment to how many had flowered earlier in the season.

 Pasqueflower seedheads.

All in all a thoroughly top notch nature reserve, tucked in between a medieval fort and a nuclear power station and surrounded by vines.

Barley for the Beasts

By late May the barley in the fields here is turning whiskery yellow and easy to distinguish from the wheat. It seems to me that farmers here grow as much barley as wheat, but before the ears start to form, I can't tell the difference. The barley is grown as stock food and will be harvested in July after the canola but before the wheat. The farmer will alternate the crop with sunflowers or maize.

Barley is a beautiful crop, rippling and undulating in the wind. I much prefer it to canola, which is ugly and smelly for most of the season, or even sunflowers, which have a much shorter season of glory.

**************************************************

French Expressions: Mon ancienne voiture = my previous car; ma voiture ancienne = my classic/vintage car; ma vieille voiture = my old car (as in aged).

Grape Vines are Doing it for Themselves

That's right. Grapes don't need insects for pollination. They mostly self-pollinate.

 Black Hamburg table grapes in our orchard (September 2011).

That's why grape flowers are inconspicuous, unscented and many don't offer nectar. They can be wind pollinated if the weather is right (dry with a breeze but not raining and blowing a gale), and some varieties rely quite heavily on wind pollination. If insects visit the flowers they can provide some pollination, but no grape vine species or varieties depend on insects.

 Chasselas grapes (October 2012).

The weather has considerable influence on how successful grape self-fertilisation is. If it is cold, wet or windy grapes don't flower well or not all the flowers in a cluster will fertilise, thus leading to small or patchy bunches.

Grape flowers at the end of May 2011 in our orchard.

By the end of May fruit is setting, with the fertilised flowers producing tiny green ovoids that will become individual grape berries. All wild grape species have black fruit. Green grapes are the result of breeding and mutations which 'switch off' the the production of anthocyanins (red-blue pigments).

Chenin blanc grapes, not quite ripe yet, Vouvray, October 2013.

Roses at Chédigny

 Chédigny is an impossibly picturesque village near us. The best time to visit is the end of May to the beginning of June, when the roses are at their absolute best.

Grilled

The front of my father's 4-wheel drive, covered in insects.

Getting the Once Over

A week or so ago we had dinner with our friends Tim and Carolyn at their place in Amboise. We parked right outside their house, a listed building and B&B which sits between the Chateau of Amboise and the Loire River, and I thought it would be amusing to photograph Claudette from upstairs. This is the sight that greeted Simon as he leant out the window with the camera. Classic cars attract attention wherever they go and people are particularly delighted to see iconic French vehicles in working order out and about on the roads. These two women had a good nose around Claudette, peering in the windows and admiring her for several minutes before they walked on.

Those of you used to more equatorial latitudes may be interested to know that this photo was taken at 9.20 pm.

Finders Keepers

This painting, which currently hangs above the entrance to the cloisters in the cathedral in Tours has had a rather unexpected recent history and caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

In 2010 the 17th century 4 metre wide by 1.9 metre high Flemish painting depicting the conversion of Saint Paul was restored. It had been discovered in a storeroom four years earlier by a young man working as a sexton. At the request of the senior architect from Historic Monuments, he was clearing out old furniture in the storeroom, to facilitate access during upcoming restoration work on the facade of the cathedral. When the painting was put on public view in 2012 he claimed ownership rights to the painting!

His argument is that the painting had been totally ignored and forgotten, despite its artistic value and so far as I can ascertain there is an ongoing legal dispute. When rediscovered in 2006 by him it was leaning against the back of a heavy freestanding cupboard, amongst planks of wood and material that was destined for the rubbish tip. It had probably been there a very long time, as it was filthy and not listed on the cathedral's inventory of 1906, at the time of the introduction of the law to formally separate church and state. It had presumably been missed, either because it was already in the storeroom and so covered in dust that its value wasn't appreciated, or because it was deliberately hidden by the priests just prior to the inventory. The sexton alerted the curators to the existance of the painting and according to him, heard no more about it until one day he saw it, fully restored and hanging on the wall of the cathedral. And this is really the heart of the matter - the young man feels as if he has not been treated with the respect he deserves.

The sexton's claim is based on Treasure Trove law, and the fact that he came upon the valuable work by accident. If his claim is upheld he is entitled to half the value of the painting. The DRAC (Department of Culture, who own and manage the cathedral) on the other hand, is countering by pointing out rather bluntly that possession is nine tenths of the law. The DRAC curator says that the painting was neither hidden nor buried, so Treasure Trove doesn't apply. His view is that the painting was simply stored, and the sexton was directed to clear the room in the course of his day's work, so the discovery was not really accidental. Thus the painting's status is just like the other furniture in the room. He thinks the painting is part of the heritage of the cathedral and therefore clearly belongs to the cathedral. Also he points out that it was the DRAC who recognised the interest of the painting and acted to restore it. The restoration and reframing cost €30 000 and it was only after the restored painting was hung in public that the sexton made his claim. Gilles Blieck, the curator, hopes that common sense will prevail and you can sense his exasperation when he is quoted in the newspaper articles.

Treasure Trove law crops up from time to time in France and invariably causes a controversy. The best known cases have involved masons discovering hoards of gold hidden in walls. The finder of such treasure on someone else's property can claim half the value and it is on this basis that the sexton is claiming. For his claim to be upheld certain conditions must be met: the find must be down to chance; the treasure must be hidden or buried; and there must be no clear and/or established title to the treasure.

Wine in a Box

Cask wine, as it is known in Australia, has been widely adopted in France, where it is known as bag-in-box. In Australia it is generally negatively regarded as cheap and poor quality, but it never acquired that stigma in France. Here it is seen positively as a cheaper and practical alternative to bottles for mid-range wines which are intended to be drunk young. In other words the sort of wine that many people here drink every day and the sort of wine that restaurants use as their house wine. Many local wineries package their most popular wines in both bottles and boxes. The sauvignon blanc in the yellow boxes below is exactly the same prize winning wine as the bottles you can buy from this winemaker.

 Red, white and rosé Touraine wines in 10 litre boxes stacked up ready for sale at
Christophe Davault's Domaine de la Chaise winery in Saint Georges sur Cher.

Consumers appreciate the lower price and the practicalities of storage, transport and lower weight. They like the fact that the wine has a long lifespan after the box is opened, because the wine remains protected from the air. Restaurants appreciate the ease of use and the fact that staff don't have to open numerous bottles each service. Boxes come in 5, 10 and 20 litre sizes and are openly used behind many local bars, at functions and in private homes.

**********************************************

Forgot to mention: Claudette passed her CT (Contrôle Technique) on Monday with no problems, the only advisory was a cracked steering rack boot. The brakes are really good: I knew that from using them, but the balance is nigh on perfect (the déséquilibré is in single figures) and the new Koni shock absorbers are spot on too. Well done Jean-Louis!

Simon

Time to Make Elderflower Syrup

Elder Sambucus niger is a common small tree in the Touraine. The wood is soft, so it doesn't have a commercial value. But from May to early July elder produces gazillions of tiny creamy white flowers held in flat clusters all over the tree, fragrant and smothered in yellow pollen.

The flowers have been used as part of the suite of ancient herbal remedies in Europe for centuries, for coughs and colds. Modern research suggests that they may indeed be effective against sinusitus, and can lower blood sugar.

The flowers can be used to make a subtle but delicious variation on lemonade. Pick them while they are at their peak, and have plenty of pollen still.  My recipe for elder flower syrup is here. You can bottle it as above or freeze it in icecube trays and use it from frozen (this brilliant suggestion comes from our friend Roger).

Fun and Games

Part 1

Now this was a puzzle:

We were recently in Montrésor and Simon was intruiged by the clothes peg baskets full of bottle tops wired to a tree. Many thoughts crossed his mind (he is like that...) none of them either practical, relevant or sensible.

Until he looked around and noticed the setting.  Under the same trees are seats and picnic tables with strange markings.  Suddenly it made sense.

Badoit vs Contrex anyone?

Part 2

Now this was also a puzzle:

After returning home from a very pleasant apero with Tim and Gaynor (combined with picking up plunder - cheese, car oil, the usual sort of thing) we had dinner, then Simon settled down to watch a program about comets on the TV. Something provoked him to wander outside to see if there was any celestial action.

He strolled back in (actually, he didn't, he burst back in) to the house and said "I think I have kicked a hedgehog". Sure enough, on investigating with torches we discovered a very put upon looking hedgehog in the driveway.

What amazes us is that in 9 years we have never seen any sign of hedgehogs around the house, yet Simon immediately assumed that's what he had done. It may have to do with having a bobo on his toes (naturally he was bare footed), because nothing else around here is that prickly.

An hour later there was no sign of the hedgehog, Simon's toes had stopped hurting (it felt like the world's weakest nettle sting), and our driveway had returned to it's normal, peaceful state.

Basilica Saint Eutrope, Saintes

The church of Saint Eutrope in Saintes is a curious basilica style building that is sort of a church on top of a church. The early 11th century crypt is large, atmospheric and virtually empty, and is mirrored by the slightly later church above. Once this lower church was for the general populace, whilst the upper church was for monks only.

It is one of the most outstanding monuments of the Romanesque period in France and is on the major pilgrimage route that ultimately leads to Santiago de Compostella. 

The sarcophagus of Saint Eutrope.

Medieval dames adorn one of the capitals.

An ornate niche that I assume once held a statue,
just above head height, supported by rather tough looking angels.

The font.

A view of the interior.

Looking down one side of the ambulatory. 

The disk shaped arch voussoirs are distinctive.

All photos taken in the so-called crypt, or lower church.

**********************************************

Claudette is off to have her CT (roadworthy, MOT, whatever) today. This is a bi-annual event that I always find quite stressful. We have checked the headlights, indicators, tail lights, stop lights, fog lamps, and we know she stops and starts. At home.

60 year old electrics are, however, a law unto themselves, and even though I have again repaired a headlight bulb, there is a possibility she will have one of those (luckily very rare) moments that all old cars occasionally have....

Simon

***************************************************

A la cuisine hier: Eggs Florentine, using some of the bucket of chard I harvested. The rest I steamed and froze in batches.

Sort of Oriental style chicken, made with pieces of cockerel and leftover soy sauce / pineapple juice marinade. Carrot, celery, red pepper and baby corn added and served with rice.

First rhubarb of the season, from the market, stewed, and homemade custard.

Goanna Tracks

Goanna tracks, perfectly recorded in the red sands of central Australia.
*********************************************

Au jardin hier: The grapes have leaves, but not quite big enough yet to make dolmades. The apples have set fruit (the Granny Smith is covered, but I bet it loses most of them, like previous years). Only one of the pears has set fruit. The cherries all look to have a reasonable crop. Not many nectarines or peaches. The big red gage plum has lots of fruit but the little Saint Catherines not much. The apricot has no fruit.

Onions and garlic are thriving, the broad beans are flowering. The chard (silver beet) is going to seed, but still edible. Lettuces are coming along nicely, enjoying the rain. My experiment to protect the brassicas from being munched has failed so I will just give up with them.

Early Spider, Lady and Bee Orchids are flowering in a sea of Upright Brome grass. The Paulownia is in full flower and various species of bumble bee are enjoying the lavender foxglove flowers.

The Aged One has very kindly made a new set of steps down to the stream for me, so if I want to bring water up it is a lot easier (although with the rain my water butts are full at the moment).

Tassel Hyacinth

Every year at this time, between mid-May and mid-June, someone will email me with a photo of a striking blue flower they have photographed on the roadside or in some calcareous grassland. Invariably they say they've never seen anything like it before and ask if I can identify it.

Well, yes I can.

It's a Tassel Hyacinth Muscari comosum, related to Grape Hyacinth M. neglectum and quite abundant in certain pockets in the Touraine Loire Valley. It makes a lovely blue haze in the grass when there is a biggish colony.

********************************************

Clandon Park House Fire: Some readers will know that I used to work for the National Trust in the UK, in the Historic Buildings Conservation Department. Some readers will also have heard that one of the Trust's properties, Clandon Park House, was extensively damaged by fire on 29 April. I will be closely following the recovery and clean up operation, and if you are interested in the process, my friend and ex-colleague Emile will be documenting it on his blog. The Trust is a world leader at managing this sort of operation, having learned by bittersweet experience 25 years ago at Uppark. It's too early to say if an Uppark style reconstruction will be attempted, but whatever approach is taken it will be a massive heritage conservation project. There will be sorrow for the things lost forever, but considerable excitement at the prospect of saving much from the ashes and the opportunity to apply specialist skills and learn new ones in the heritage conservation field.

*********************************************

Latest Bee Research: Here is a link to comments by bee research scientists on the latest findings regarding the effects of neonicitinoid insecticides used on crops and how that impacts on honey bees, bumble bees and wild solitary bees.

The evidence shows that bees are attracted to flowers treated with certain neonics. This is linked to research that I highlighted in an earlier post showing that bees like a buzz and will preferentially go to flowers that give them a low dose of caffeine or nicotine. The pesticides are called neonicitinoids because they are synthetic developments of nicotine, a well known poison.

The results are nuanced though. Honey bee colonies survive the effects of these sublethal doses by metabolising the poison more quickly than other species, and by the sheer size of their colonies. Bumble bees don't gain weight as rapidly and don't produce as many queens when affected by neonics, both of which will impact on breeding and overwintering success and lead to a decline in numbers. Solitary bees simply didn't breed at all when exposed to neonics. 

Lynn Dicks raises the point that crop margins (and I would add jachere fleuri/wildflower mixes) may not be the refuges that many assume they are. If they are contaminated with neonics, as is often shown to be the case, then they are worse than useless and it may explain why experiments using such systems have always produced disappointing results in terms of increasing pollination services.

The Dead Cherry Tree

This bronze statue of a dead cherry tree is the Resistance memorial in Place Jean Moulin, Saint Pierre des Corps. The sculptor is Ernest Pignon-Ernest. Behind the sculpture, the living vegetation includes cherry trees and symbolises that life returns.

Eighty-five percent of the buildings in Saint Pierre des Corps were damaged or destroyed in the Second World War. The artist says that the statue is a metaphor for the bombings, the massacres, the ideas that fuel wars. He didn't want to make a representation of a person. He felt that would have been too full of pathos. Rather he wanted to step back a bit and make something more poetic. He chose the cherry because for him there is nothing more beautiful than a cherry in flower.

Roman Arch, Saintes

Recently we spent a couple of days at the coast with Simon's parents. On our way back we took a slight detour to visit Saintes, where we knew there were impressive Roman ruins. The most obvious of these is the Arch of Germanicus, once at the end of the bridge across the Charente on the main road from Lyon. The modern route has shifted downstream and the Roman bridge long gone, but the arch remains on the river bank.

This triumphal arch was built by a wealthy local in 18 or 19. That indefatigible champion of French built heritage, Prosper Mérimée, had the arch moved some metres to protect it from work on the quay and it was restored in the mid 19th century. The arch's inscription dedicates it to the Emperor Tiberius, his son Drusus and his charismatic nephew Germanicus, who died not long after the arch was erected. The original benefactor, Caius Julius Rufus, was of Celtic (Gallic) origin, but his family had been given Roman citizenship in his grandfather's time, possibly by Julius Caesar himself.

Minor Flooding

Flooding in early May is not an uncommon occurrence in the Touraine Loire Valley. This year all the watermeadows and river flats along the Cher and other smaller rivers in the system have certainly been doing their job. They allow the river to expand and overflow without causing any real inconvenience or damage. All the sandbanks in the Loire are covered in swift flowing water, so we hope that the terns and other river bird have not started nesting yet. If they have, all the eggs will have been washed away.

A largish tree floating down the Loire at Amboise.

On 4 May we were at Amboise and just standing around on the Ile d'Or in the middle of the Loire there, when a large tree floated by, going at quite a lick. It must have shot straight through and under the bridge without snagging, as I photographed there later and it wasn't visible. I wonder where it ended up?

The water level of this year's floods are quite high, but we have once or maybe twice seen them higher. And they are nowhere near the level of the 7 May 1940 flood that turned the chateau of Chenonceau into a stinking sludgy mess just before the Germans arrived at the beginning of World War II. The damage and mess wasn't cleared away until after the war, and was probably a blessing in disguise. The chateau sits in the bed of the river Cher and the river was the border between occupied France and 'free' France. In the early days of the war the chateau was not taken over by some unpleasant branch of the Wehrmacht as happened in so many places. Passeurs were able to facilitate the crossing of many people who needed to escape to neutral Spain by taking them in through the grand northern front door, through the chateau and stepping out the southern back door where they slipped into the forest and away.

Wall I'll Be....

We got a bit of a shock the other day. Walking to one of the places we have previously identified as being one of our favorite places in Preuilly, the boat ramp near the remains of the roman bridge we encountered some building (or rather de-building) work.

The path of the roman road, which until recently had a stone wall running down its western side no longer has a stone wall.

Before (looking away from the river)

After (looking towards the river)

I know that eventually things change, but this seems a bit brutal. I wonder what happened to the intruiging graffitoed stone?

**********************************************

Schloss Itter Anniversary: Today is the 70th anniversary of the Battle for Schloss Itter. The castle served as a prison for high-ranking French prisoners, administered by Dachau. At the end of World War II, after Hitler and the commander at Dachau had committed suicide, the SS wanted to execute the prisoners, but an Austrian Wehrmacht major in the area refused to allow it and set out to protect his charges. A Yugoslav prisoner was dispatched to find American troops they had heard were in the area and the remaining prisoners armed to defend the castle. The Americans arrived and together they successfully fought off the SS. Amongst the prisoners were Charles de Gaulle's sister and her husband, Georges Clemenceau's son, two former prime ministers, two former commanders in chief of the armed forces and their wives, a tennis star and a trade union leader. There is a marvellous contemporary account of the battle in the Lone Sentry, the 12th Armoured Divisions newspaper. Scroll down until you come to '12th Men Free French Big-Wigs' in the right-hand column.

Structural Blues

Bright blue colours in birds and insects is literally a trick of the light. These species don't produce a blue pigment, but due to microscopic scales or other physical surface arrangements for refracting and reflecting light, what the human eye sees is sparkling blues and greens. Because the colour is caused by the actual structure of the animal, this type of colour survives even in fossils.

Here are some local, living examples:

The chafer beetle Hoplia caerulia, photographed near Candes Saint Martin.

 A peacock at the Chateau de Rivau, near Chinon.

A male Adonis Blue Polyommatus bellargus on one of my butterfly survey transects.

 Fossils of this irridescent reed beetle Plateumaris sericea and other closely related species have been found in Japan. These rather lively ones were photographed in the Brenne.

Cream of the Crop

Ten years ago Susan and I were at the Cream reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

We had a private box - and a spare ticket, because boxes are for 4 and there was only 3 of us: our friend Bas was with us, but Alex coudn't make it.

This was filmed on the night. You can still buy the DVD

Jack Bruce (1943-2014) R.I.P

Turkey Herding

Border Collies at Banka Banka Station in the Northern Territory keeping themselves entertained by herding the turkeys.

Mayday Mayday

It's traditional in France to give friends and family Lily of the Valley Convallaria majus on 1 May as a good luck token. However, since all parts of the plant are highly toxic, I'm not so sure about the symbology!

Lily of the Valley is chock full glycosides that it makes in order to dissuade herbivores. The glycosides causes the heart rate to slow and even small quantities of the plant ingested can result in vomiting and disrupt heart function.