Chemin de la Durance

3 points of interest

• 

  Fauna

  The honey bee

  The honey bee is also known as the mouche à miel, or honey fly. It lives in colonies formed by a complex structure of social castes. There is a queen and workers which collect pollen on the hairy receptacles located on the back of their hind legs, forming a sort of pollen «basket». It is through this work that the honey bee is able to make honey, which is its food. Vital for plant pollination, the bee is capable of visiting up to 250 flowers in one hour.
• 

  Geology and geography

  The Herbonne plateau

  This plateau is representative of glaciofluvial terraces. They form a tabular promontory, bounded by vertical walls formed in the cemented glaciofluvial materials, at the foot of which the Le Rabioux mountain stream flows on one side and the Durance on the other. This glacial rock is a typical formation of the Haute-Durance valley, similar to the Roc d'Embrun or that of Mont-Dauphine. Its formation dates back to one of the last ice ages (100,000 years ago). At that time, the Durance glacier occupied the entire valley. Today, on its sedimentary rock base, the Roc is covered by vegetation which is highly characteristic of steppe grasslands.
• 

  Fauna

  Red kite

  The red kite is a medium-sized bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 1.6 metres. In flight, the red kite can easily be recognised by its slender silhouette and its deeply forked tail. It has contrasting russet-brown and white plumage. Its diet is a relatively eclectic, made up of rodents, reptiles and invertebrates. It is also a willing scavenger. It is for this reason that red kites can sometimes be seen in large number near landfill sites, and often in the company of black kites.