Day 7 - Port de Boucharo, Vallé d'Oussou, Valle Héas, Héas village and Gedre
Another day with a misty start and a promise of rain commenced with a walk up to the Port de Boucharo in the hope of some views across the Pyrenees into Spain and maybe an Alpine Accentor. In fact looking at the map I reckon we just crossed over into Spain. The valley was clothed in mist making for a real atmospheric feel to the trek. On the way we were tracked by several Water Pipits, one obviously feeding a family.
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| Water Pipit |
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| Well worth the walk |
Griffon Vultures kept us under observation.
A frantic Stoat entertained us but the local Wheatears were not impressed.
Next stop was a picnic lunch in the Ossoue valley, again closely observed by the wildlife.
Butterflies were about but in the cooler conditions had gone to roost.
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| Marbled White |
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| Little Blue |
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| Turquoise Blue |
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| Sulphur Owl Fly |
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| Sulphur Owl Fly |
Then our daily fix of Lammergeier, remarkably we had seen at least one on each of our full day tours - and a maximum of three!
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| Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus |
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| Ossifrage - Latin for "bone-breaker" is an older name for the bearded vulture. |
Our next call was to the village of Héas to visit the restored Chapelle de Héas and take some shots of the ancient pack horse bridge, the Pont de l'Aguila. Of course to have a "chocolat chaud" at the Auberge de la Munia was an obligation. Over the road a fine meadow to be explored, unfortunately the fine drizzle had become constant but there were roosting butterflies to be found.
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| Pont de LAguila |
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| Butterflies are waterproof! |
We decided to call it a day, the weather had closed in and the likelihood of seeing anything else was fairly low - how wrong can you be. As we descended into Gedre our eagle-eyed tour leader spotted an Egyptian Vulture circling in the valley below, then another and several Griffons - something was afoot. What followed was a splendid half hour of close up views of vultures.
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| Egyptian Vulture |
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| Something tasty at the back of the barn ? |
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| Definitely! |
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| Close! |
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| Egyptian over the hotel car park - Gedre - vulture city! |
Day 8 - Col du Tourmalet
The last day, how can a week pass so quickly? - but one final trip, this time over the famous Col du Tourmalet. To those familiar with "Le Tour" it will be instantly recognisable, Col du Tourmalet (elevation 2,115 m (6,939 ft)) is the highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrenees. As you top out, the statue of Octave Lapize, a famous French cyclist, dominates the scene.
Whilst we were there the thermometer on the minibus registered 3.5 degrees and there was a tad of wind chill too. However, the hardiest butterfly - the Piedmont Ringlet was freshly emerged and on the wing. We also had another, looking slightly different, and though it was examined closely it remains a PR in the log.
Bouquets
Jason Mitchell - tour leader extraordinaire - the indispensable local knowledge and a great sense of humour
Naturetrek - perfect organisation.
Hotel - La Breche de Roland - Odile and Philippe - great food and hospitality.
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