France 2017
Red Helleborine in flower
Burnt Orchid flower
Vanilla Orchid flower
Fragrant Orchid flower detail
Broad-leaved Helleborine flowers
Dark Red Helleborine flowers
Broad-leaved Sermountain flower
Great Masterwort flowers
Alpine Aster flower
Pectinate Knapweed flower
Harebell flowers
Field Gentian flower
Shrubby Restharrow flowers
Houseleek flowers
Wood Pink flower
Fringed Pink flowers
Alpine Betony flower
Large Selfheal flower
Clary Sage flowers
Slender Broomrape
Spiked Speedwell flower
Martagon Lily flower
Alpine Lady's Mantle flowers
Alpine Bistort flower
Adult Mantis Fly grooming
Adult Mantis Fly
European Paper Wasp nest
Large Cuckoo Wasp
Female Common Darter dragonfly
Large Banded Grasshopper
Merry Burnet moth
Reticent Burnet Moth
Slender Burnet moth
Small Elephant Hawkmoth
Sharp-tailed Grasshopper
French Stone Grasshopper
Female Small Alpine Bush-cricket
Leopard Slug
Woodland Grayling
Great Banded Grayling
Heath Fritillary
Marbled White and Pearly Heath
Marbled White
Common Brassy Ringlet
Male Great Sooty Satyr
Heath Fritillary
Knapweed Fritillary
Weaver's Fritillary
Male High Brown Fritillary
Male Silver-washed Fritillary
Baton Blue
Female Large Blue
Northern Brown Argus
Male Escher's Blue
Male Escher's Blue
Black-veined White
Male Scarce Copper
Male Purple-edged Copper
Male Meleager's Blue
Male Adonis Blue
Common Swallowtail
Apollo
Large Grizzled Skipper
Large Skipper
Essex Skipper Butterfly
We spent a week at the end of June/beginning of July 2017 in the Vercors region of France with a group of friends from the Bedfordshire Natural History Society. The trip was arranged by ‘Wildlife Travel’ which was set up to support nature conservation through the Wildlife Trusts. We traveled by train, firstly on the Eurostar from St.Pancras to Lille then by a TVG train to Valence. We were based for the week in a friendly, family-run hotel “Le Mont Barral” in the mountain village of Les Nonieres. Our knowledgeable guides for the week were Charlie Rugeroni and our old friend Graham Bellamy. From our base we visited Le col de Pennes, Le Marais des Bouligons, Le Cirque d’Archiane and Le Vallon de Combeau.