Start : Vallouise – Places bridge

What could be better than a great pile of manure, its nutrient-rich liquid seeping onto the road? This windfall attracts clouds of butterflies which settle in their dozens on the road, risking their lives. It is the ideal spot (well, sort of!) for admiring them because they are so preoccupied with sipping this nectar. One of them is easy to identify: the black-veined white with very distinctive black veining. This butterfly is very common, so it can be spotted very frequently, not only near piles of manure!

In the forest, the martagon lily is a common sight. This superb plant has large hanging flowers with curved-back petals, which are pink speckled with purple and exposed orangey stamens. Its leaves are elongated and whorled. It grows in meadows and cool woods. Although common here, it is rare in many French regions. In fact, picking it is prohibited or regulated.  

A piercing song, long and flowing with numerous trills, bursts from the forest. What a pair of lungs! This powerful song is that of a tiny bird with a plump body and a short tail, which is often raised: the Eurasian wren. It lives in cool forests with dense undergrowth or in bushes on the water's edge. It builds a spherical nest, often against a rock or old wall, hence its French name troglodyte.