Many other rare and beautiful plants can also be found, which helps explain the abundance of the many butterflies on the wing at this time of the year. Most noticeable perhaps, with abundant large spikes, are the strange but beautiful Lizard Orchids, but Man, Military, Lady, Monkey, Burnt-tip, Bee and Fly Orchids are plentiful, together with Red, Sword-leaved and White Helleborines.
These limestone gorges also support a very rich flora, with orchids being particularly well represented. Such broken country suits many birds of prey, including both Red and Black Kite, Honey Buzzard, Hobby, Peregrine, harriers, and even the occasional Booted Eagle, as well as Crag Martin and Alpine Swift. One of the reasons for this great diversity is the varying density of the underlying limestone, a characteristic of this landscape being the spectacular cliffs, formed where the river’s course has been impeded by harder rock. This is southern England in the days before intensive farming and suburban sprawl … only with twice the number of species! Birds are everywhere, butterflies and other insects abound, whilst a bewildering array of flowering plants provide a sea of colour in meadows, hedgerows and woodland glades. In mid May this unspoilt and lovely part of France is a veritable paradise for the keen naturalist.
Choosing a very pleasant village hotel, we will enjoy good local food and wines, and explore - as much as possible on foot - the varied habitats of the surrounding countryside. Here, stunning ochre-coloured stone hamlets nestle in the valleys amongst walnut trees and fields of maize and sunflowers, whilst large villages cling precariously to the riverside cliffs or perch fortress-like atop hills and ridges, often huddling around an 18th century chateau or the ruins of a castle dating back to the Hundred Years War with England.ĭuring our week-long holiday we will be based near Rocamadour, a spectacular medieval village, abbey and castle built into the side of a cliff. However, it is at the middle of its course, amongst the heartlands of rural southern France, that it is at its most beautiful, meandering so peacefully through wide limestone gorges and rolling hills bedecked with dense oak woodlands. The Dordogne, one of the major rivers of France, rises from just below Puy Sancy, in the mountains of the Auvergne, and enters the Bay of Biscay by means of the Garonne estuary near Bordeaux. Expert leadership from a locally based Naturetrek naturalist.Typical Dordogne village hotel serving tasty local cuisine (& wines).Look for Hoopoe, Golden Oriole & singing Nightingales.A profusion of spring flowers (including 25-30 orchid species).