Gasques Valley Nature Trail

The old orchards attract a range of special visitors accustomed to these habitats. The little owl, with its golden eyes, may nest in the cavities of old apple or pear trees. The fruit often attracts a few hungry birds: hawfinches for the cherries and European orioles for the figs. Many insects drawn to the flowers and fruit become preferred prey in the evenings for several bat species. A fairly diverse but common array of orchids grows between the rows of fruit trees: Pyramidal Orchid, Goat Orchid, Purple Orchid, Bee Orchid, and Woodcock Orchid, with the slightly rarer Serapias with elongated labellum also present.

The wet meadow is bordered by a hygrophilous tall-herb fringe (meadow tall-herb habitat), a Habitat of Community Interest (endangered, vulnerable, or rare in Europe). This habitat consists of dense, perennial, tall vegetation (1 to 1.5 m) and typically develops along riverbanks subject to periodic flooding. Within the Sensitive Natural Area, it has benefited from an edge effect in a low-lying position between the meadow and the alder woodland, allowing it to thrive. It supports rare and luxuriant biodiversity!

The Communauté de Communes des Deux Rives has created a series of ponds of varying sizes, exposures, and types (forest and edge ponds) across the site to compensate for the loss of the original waterbody, while providing a greater diversity of habitats that support rich biodiversity. The banks have been reshaped with gentle slopes to encourage the growth of aquatic and marsh plants, and the ponds have been lengthened to facilitate the flight of bats from the Natura 2000 site “Cavities and Associated Slopes in Quercy-Garonne”, which hunt and drink over the water surface.

The swampy alder grove relies on proximity to a watercourse or groundwater to survive. Here, it is subject to the periodic flooding of the meandering Barbe stream. The stream is fed by two sources: a main one between the hamlets of Barbe and Croix d’Astel, and a secondary one near Granges Hautes, before joining the Carretou stream on the other side of the D46, at the boundary of the Sensitive Natural Area.

A small area (120 m²) of the dry grassland is classified as “Semi-Natural Dry Grassland with Shrub Encroachment on Limestone”, a Habitat of Community Interest. It is mainly dominated by grasses, most commonly species of Festuca and Bromus, accompanied by a few orchids and rockroses. The steep slope limits shrub encroachment, but the northern edge (top of the slope) is gradually closing in with shrub formations, particularly blackthorn and wild rose, along with field elms that need to be preserved. The Management Plan aims to expand this rare habitat on the northern part of the site, while maintaining some shrubby areas that are favorable for nesting and feeding of Mediterranean bird species, notably the Woodlark (Lullula arborea).

The commune of Gasques is located on a serre (a narrow, elongated ridge several kilometers long, lying between two parallel valleys cutting into a limestone plateau) bounded by two rivers, the Séoune and the Barguelonne, which flow from northeast to southwest toward the Garonne. This section of the plateau has been incised by small tributary streams, creating the emblematic landscape of the Barbe stream valley, with its cliffs and discreet springs.

You will often find my larvae at the water surface, enjoying the warmer water. As a larva, I can be recognized by a small pale spot at the base of each leg. As an adult, you’ll often see me slowly wandering along roads and woodland paths after rain. I am... the spotted salamander!