Sentier des Curattes - Les Curattes path

9 points of interest

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  Panorama

  Panorama of the Baie Saint-Michel

  This area, which has been provided with picnic amenities, offers the most picturesque panorama over the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. In fact, the lake is 2 kilometres wide at this point, and in front of you are the Chapelle Saint Michel and the Pic Morgon, an iconic view of the lake. On your left, to the east, you can see Savines-le-Lac and its bridge. On the right, you can see the secret île de la Tortue.

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  Flora

  Messicole plants

  A feature of messicole plants is that they live among crops, even though not sown there deliberately. They are biologically adapted to open areas, and in particular areas that are regularly worked, such as fields. In fact, they use various strategies such as adapting their life cycle and producing large amounts of seeds in order to make up for the disturbance that occurs in their germination area. Many of them are common, such as the poppy, the cornflower and the corn buttercup...

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  Flora

  Scots pine

  Scots pine is a softwood tree like fir, spruce, larch and juniper. It reaches a height of 30 m (under the best conditions) and is easily recognisable thanks to the orange-red tinge of its branches and the upper part of its trunk. Its short needles are grouped in pairs. Its cones, also known as pine cones, release winged seeds.

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  Fauna

  The field cricket

  Just 18 to 26 mm long, this little insect has a black head which looks a little like a helmet. The female can be told apart from the male by the presence of a third long appendage at the rear of the body. The cricket’s song is heard from April onwards. The male sings his chirping song from the entrance to his burrow. The fertile females lay their eggs in the ground, which remain there for two weeks before the larvae emerge.

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  Flora

  Common juniper

  This bush is a resinous evergreen conifer. It is characterised by its greenish to blue (glaucous) needles with a white line on their upper side, and fruits resembling blue-black berries. It usually tends to grow in warm environments receiving plenty of sunlight. It grows in grassy or scrub covered areas up to 2,000 metres above sea level.

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  Flora

  Quaking- grass

  Quaking-grass or briza media is a plant in the family of upright Poaceae and can reach a height of up to 80 cm. The leaves are 2 to 5 mm wide. The heart-shaped hanging spikelets are coloured purple, changing to yellow as they mature. They tremble in the slightest breeze, hence the name. This very common grass is found in meadows and dry grasslands.

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  Fauna

  Common magpie

  This bird can be identified by its black and white plumage with blue-green tints on the wings and tail. Its tail is remarkably long. It can be found all year round in varied open environments. Its omnivorous diet consists of invertebrates, seeds and berries, small rodents, eggs and nestlings and even human rubbish. Except during the nesting period when it is solitary, the magpie is gregarious species which gathers into rather raucous groups in the winter.

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  Fauna

  Eurasian jay

  The Eurasian jay has a colourful plumage. Its black tail and blue wing streak helps to identify this relatively shy bird. It regularly utters raucous caws, but also frequently imitates the calls of several other species. In late winter, jays assemble in groups and sing as a choir, uttering whistles and chirps in a cheerful chatter. They all display their finest feathers and adopt comical attitudes, in preparation for forming into pairs.

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  Geology and geography

  Gullied black earth

  Prized by mountain bikers, Terres Noires, or black earth, is formed from rocks which erode easily. The flows caused by precipitations shape and sculpt these friable marls. In the Alpine region, numerous examples can be seen, in particular on slopes, which vary in gradient depending on the area, which increases the speed of the water flow.