Nature Switched On - 2010 April 27 to May 21

Practical Ecology

Nature Switched On

in the Pyrenees the first 10 years

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2010 May 30
<< 2010 Apr 16

a S T A M M E R project

2010 April 27 to May 21

Spring this year is wet and cold and only for the last few days the weather is getting better. In the vegetable garden things have gone quite slowly but the vegetation on the terrain (and on the roof) is exuberant. Temperatures got as low as 5º C in the early morning but it was not necessary to light the wood stove as inside temperatures rarely dropped below 20º, confirming again the excellent climatic behavior of our dwelling.

The lowest terrace with yellow flowering Cytisophyllum sessilifolium.
19 May 8:20

The garden house, looking east.
21 May 10:01

Sedum species on the roof are not flowering yet but look promising.
19 May 8:42

___________

Work on the garden house is reaching its end. The last finish layer was applied on the outside walls. We like the resulting colour, matching almost exactly the colour of the earth around it. Its surface is far from smooth but this adds some informal rusticity to the design.

The last plaster layer, with 75% sand and 25% earth, almost finished.
3 May 9:26

The coffee colour of the walls approaches the colour of earth and skin.
16 May 12:54

At dusk, looking south.
Rain water barrel in place.
18 May 20:32

Early morning, looking north.
21 May 8:42

______________

Needless to say that animal live is in full swing. We encountered some remarkable animal species: apart from the species in the photographs we saw one deer roaming near the wood edge in the early morning and a fox is almost a regular visitor.

5 youngsters of the Subalpine Warbler, Sylvia cantillans in a nest at the foot of a thorn shrub.
20 May 14:52

The Giant Peacock Moth (Saturnia pyri) is the biggest butterfly in Europe.
16 May 19:38

Viperine water snake (Natrix maura) in the lower pond.
17 May 18:50

Afterwards the Water snake slid and disappeared among the stones.
17 May 19:05

______________

Very impressive is the metamorphosis of this Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) which took her one hour. A neighbour at a 50cm distance was less lucky and wasn´t able to unfold its wings completely. The next morning it was still there.

Emerging Dragonfly of the Broad-bodied Chaser.
27 Apr 9:18

9:21

9:32

9:42

10:19

10:21

The ill-fated neighbour.
27 Apr 9:16

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2010 May 30
<< 2010 Apr 16