The Loire, the river with a thousand different faces
Regularly flooded, the river's wooded areas are the special domain of beavers. Living on the riverbanks, these animals find their food on the strands. The birds, for example the little tern and the common tern, lay their eggs on the sand. Don't go there until the end of summer, or you might crush their nests.
At the foot of Château de Chaumont sur Loire, the Ile de la Folie is something of an arboretum where softwood and hardwood trees mingle. Beavers cut and feed off them, while green and black woodpeckers make their homes in them. You can also see lots of insects such as the rose beetle, the larvae of which feed of decomposing wood.
To discover this island, which might owe its name to the apparent madness of Mother Nature, two paths will take you there - this place is only an island during the rises in water level in winter.
In the Loire Anjou Touraine Regional Nature Park between the Loire and Vienne Rivers, the Puys du Chinonais stand thirty metres above the ground. These hillocks of "tuffeau" stone with short grass growing on their sides are exposed to optimum sunshine conditions and are home to Mediterranean fauna and flora. You can observe the very rare small-flowered buttercup, wild orchids such as the bee orchid, and a few uncommon butterflies such as the large blue butterfly. Birds like the hoopoe with its black and white striped plumage or the Bonelli's warbler are to be found in these hot, dry places. A visit to the Véron eco-museum give you an insight into the different aspects of this area of land and water.
Again between the Loire and Vienne, Le Véron, an enclosure dating back to the Middle Ages, is composed of regularly flooded fields which provide a setting for all sorts of wildlife and plants. In spring the fields take on colours, such as the mauve of the snake's head which contrasts with the tender green of the grass. This emblematic, rare flower stands thirty centimetres tall and is one of the first to blossom. The fields are enclosed by double rows of hedges pruned short. The oldest of them have cavities used as nests by little owls or as refuges for insects such as the rosalia longicorn.
The Loire is a migratory corridor for a great many animals. The first among them are fish: salmon, large shad and lamprey swim upriver to reach the spawning area and reproduce. Birds also follow the river to migrate, but also to live here: wherever the trees resist the rise in water levels, you will find grey herons and little egrets. A variety of ducks as well as our favourite bird of prey, the osprey, stop off for a long break on this motorway of the skies, allowing you to observe them easily. Go to the Pointe de Courpain Nature Reserve at the junction between the Loiret and the Loire, near Orléans, where you can see a great many flowers, dragonflies and other insects. Certain plants have come from the Massif Central, such as the dog figwort with its lovely white-spotted crimson flowers. Others have crossed the Atlantic, for example the Manitoba maple. On the mud flat, you can observe the brown galingale, which is also found in Senegal and Niger.
There are many ways to observe all this life. An out-of-the-ordinary and discreet way is by water. If you feel like a challenge, take a canoe and use the navigation sheets made by the Regional Nature Park. Alternatively you could choose the traditional flat-bottomed boats that leave from Candes and Chaumont or around Sancerre. Places such as the Touraine-Val de Loire Permanent Centre for Environmental Initiative organise scheduled or tailor-made nature outings.
If you prefer terra firma, there are "interpretation" trails with signposts and dotted with educational and entertaining information points.
Again between the Loire and Vienne, Le Véron, an enclosure dating back to the Middle Ages, is composed of regularly flooded fields which provide a setting for all sorts of wildlife and plants. In spring the fields take on colours, such as the mauve of the snake's head which contrasts with the tender green of the grass. This emblematic, rare flower stands thirty centimetres tall and is one of the first to blossom. The fields are enclosed by double rows of hedges pruned short. The oldest of them have cavities used as nests by little owls or as refuges for insects such as the rosalia longicorn.
The Loire is a migratory corridor for a great many animals. The first among them are fish: salmon, large shad and lamprey swim upriver to reach the spawning area and reproduce. Birds also follow the river to migrate, but also to live here: wherever the trees resist the rise in water levels, you will find grey herons and little egrets. A variety of ducks as well as our favourite bird of prey, the osprey, stop off for a long break on this motorway of the skies, allowing you to observe them easily. Go to the Pointe de Courpain Nature Reserve at the junction between the Loiret and the Loire, near Orléans, where you can see a great many flowers, dragonflies and other insects. Certain plants have come from the Massif Central, such as the dog figwort with its lovely white-spotted crimson flowers. Others have crossed the Atlantic, for example the Manitoba maple. On the mud flat, you can observe the brown galingale, which is also found in Senegal and Niger.There are many ways to observe all this life. An out-of-the-ordinary and discreet way is by water. If you feel like a challenge, take a canoe and use the navigation sheets made by the Regional Nature Park. Alternatively you could choose the traditional flat-bottomed boats that leave from Candes and Chaumont or around Sancerre. Places such as the Touraine-Val de Loire Permanent Centre for Environmental Initiative organise scheduled or tailor-made nature outings.
If you prefer terra firma, there are "interpretation" trails with signposts and dotted with educational and entertaining information points.