Finely etched in black, the Black-veined White is a handsome beast! Brian Small, Limosa Holidays

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1 France DORDOGNE FOR BUTTERFLIES Finely etched in black, the Black-veined White is a handsome beast! Brian Small, Limosa Holidays 2016 Saturday 11th - Friday 17th June (7 days) Single-centre, small group tour with David Simpson The Dordogne region of southwest France is a great place to go butterfly watching abroad. It makes an enjoyable stepping-stone between the UK fauna and more exotic ones further south. Many easily seen butterflies here are familiar British species, whilst others are scarce or rare at home - and then there is a fascinating selection of Continental delights. Like other wildlife, south of the English Channel the number of species increases, encouraged by the warmer weather - which we also expect to benefit from! Butterfly watching in the beautiful Dordogne region Mid-June sees peak numbers and diversity of butterfly species Blue-spot, Sloe and Ilex Hairstreaks, High Brown, Heath and Marbled Fritillaries Safflower and Red-underwing Skippers, Scarce Swallowtail, Cleopatra, Map As well as butterflies, plenty of other great wildlife to boot! Easy-paced walks amidst lovely French countryside Single-centre, small group holiday - maximum 7 participants Expertly led by resident Dordogne naturalist and author David Simpson What's Included? Locally based Tour Leader Flights - London to Bergerac 6 nights at a cosy village hotel beside the Dordogne River All meals included - with water provided during the day All local travel, entry fees, tour based tips and taxes LIMOSA HOLIDAYS, West End Farmhouse, Chapelfield, Stalham, Norfolk NR12 9EJ (UK) TEL: +44 (0) info@limosaholidays.co.uk WEB: limosaholidays.co.uk

2 Outline Itinerary Day 1: Fly London-Bergerac. Easy transfer to our hotel for the week, beside the Dordogne River. Night Mauzac Days 2-6: Butterflies are the main focus of our June tour, but we should see plenty of birds and other wildlife, too. Mauzac (5 nts) Day 7: Morning looking for butterflies, then lunch. Fly Bergerac-London Tour Overview The Dordogne has around 120 species of butterfly recorded. This is twice the number found in the United Kingdom and very respectable for a French lowland département. Wherever you travel there are meadows and roadside verges full of butterflies and around half of the species seen are relatively common. To find some of the others we will take you to special sites, where the habitats support rare or more localised species. We visit in mid-june for it's then we should encounter peak numbers and variety of butterflies in the Dordogne. The oak forest and adjacent meadows are a good place to start as they surround the sleepy village of Mauzac, our base for the week. We will visit a beauty spot high above the Dordogne River for a short walk. Adonis Blue are often common here and we should find a good mixture of other butterflies such as Black-veined and Wood Whites, Berger s Pale Clouded Yellow, Ilex Hairstreak, Weaver s, Glanville, Marbled and Queen of Spain Fritillaries, Pearly Heath and perhaps Reverdin s and Turquoise Blues. Not far away is a limestone plateau capped with Tertiary sands. Marsh Fritillary inhabits the grassland where damp ditches line the roadside and Provençal Short-tailed Blue can be common alongside such species as White Admiral and Southern White Admiral. If we are lucky we may find False Ringlet and Large Chequered Skipper. Where streams flow off the plateau, there are hidden meadows amongst the forest. These can harbour Lesser Purple Emperor, as well as High Brown and Heath Fritillaries. Some of the best sites for butterflies in Dordogne are the dry rocky limestone hills or causses, with varying amounts of scrub. We plan to visit one spot in the southeast where various graylings should be starting to emerge - such as the Great Banded. Hairstreaks can be present in good numbers, including Blue-spot. There are a variety of fritillaries such as Spotted and Heath, and skippers are often abundant and may include Safflower, Red-underwing and Lulworth. The Cleopatra should also be flying in June, showing its vivid orange upperwing patches. This is a particularly rich area for butterflies and 40 species per day are regularly recorded in June. We will also visit the pine forest, mixed woodland and heathland in the west of the département. Damp meadows add to the variety of species here and we will look out for Scarce Swallowtail, Short-tailed and Mazarine Blues, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Map, Large Copper, Mallow Skipper and perhaps even a late Duke of Burgundy or Chequered Skipper. The Vézère is a beautiful winding valley with rocky crags, and we aim to visit a number of interesting sites along its course. One of the rarest species we hope to see is the Woodland Brown - only discovered here a couple of years ago. Elsewhere we will keep a sharp eye out for the Great Sooty Satyr and the Twin-spot and Lesser Marbled Fritillaries. If we have time we will visit another dry causse area, where Niobe Fritillary, Large Wall Brown, Sloe Hairstreak and Provençal Fritillary have been recorded. The southern valleys and reservoirs of the département harbour another good variety of species in a lovely setting. The very rare Chapman s Blue and Bath White have both been recorded in this area. Although the main focus of our tour will be watching butterflies, the lovely countryside of the Dordogne has plenty of birds, late flowering orchids and other wildlife for us to enjoy, too. In common with all the Dordogne holidays, the pace is gentle with ample opportunities for photography and time to review the results in the evening at the hotel info@limosaholidays.co.uk

3 Our guide David Simpson lives in Dordogne and is author of the book Birding Dordogne. He is Butterfly Conservation s European Interest Group contact in Dordogne. David has designed and led all of our tours to the Dordogne. This June tour will be our ninth visit there and the last of three tours to the Dordogne we have planned for 2016 (we also go in March for Wallcreepers, and in May for birds and wildlife). Set yourself up for the summer with this delightful week watching butterflies in rural southwest France! Daily Itinerary Day 1 FLY BERGERAC, TRANSFER TO MAUZAC Our summer butterflies tour to the Dordogne begins with a flight from London to Bergerac, where we meet David Simpson. From here it is about a half-hour drive to our riverside hotel in Mauzac. Night Mauzac Days 2-6 BUTTERFLY WATCHING & WILDLIFE IN THE DORDOGNGE With no changes of hotel to worry about, we have five full days to explore the lovely French countryside for butterflies, taking in a wide variety of habitats and species as described above. During our travels, we should encounter a rich array of other wildlife, too. Each evening, we return to our cosy village hotel. There will be ample opportunities for photography and time to review the results in the evening at the hotel, for those that wish. Five nights Mauzac Day 7 THE DORDOGNE, FLY LONDON We should have time for a final morning looking at butterflies in the Dordogne and a farewell lunch before making the easy drive back to Bergerac for our evening flight home. Trip Information Group Limit 7 participants & 1 leader Butterflies ca. 60 species Accommodation We will be based at a small and cosy riverside hotel in the sleepy village of Mauzac, with all rooms en suite. Meals All main meals are included in the tour price, commencing with dinner on Day 1 and concluding with lunch on Day 7. Breakfasts and dinners will be at the hotel. Lunches will be in auberges to sample the local cuisine 'du terroir or picnics, depending on the weather. Walking Easy. The scenery here is beautiful and the location perfect for easy wildlife watching, with much of it possible on foot. Stout walking shoes or lightweight boots with good, corrugated soles for grip. Weather In June, the weather in Dordogne is typically warm-hot and sunny - and perfect for finding and watching butterflies. Expect temperatures in the range of 18-33C (64-91F), with daily averages of 26C (78F) and 8 hours of sunshine. Rainfall is low in June (averaging just 9mm). Flights Note that direct flight options are very limited on this route and airline schedules for summer 2016 are not yet available (summer 2015). In previous years, however, all flights from London to the local airport in Bergerac have operated from either Gatwick or Stansted. Ground Transport By minibus. Photos Good-excellent opportunities for photography - especially butterflies, flowers and the wonderful French countryside info@limosaholidays.co.uk

4 Tour Cost 2016 (7 days): 1395 (inc flights from London) Land only cost: 1195 Deposit: 300 Single Supp: 185 Cost includes Services of our expert guide, return flights London-Bergerac, 6 nights accommodation, all main meals (with water provided), local travel by minibus, entry fees, all tour based tips, airport taxes, map & Limosa checklist of butterflies and birds. Cost excludes Insurance, drinks & other items of a personal nature. This trip will be operated in conjunction with The Travelling Naturalist About Your Guide David Simpson David has lived in France for more than ten years. He now lives and works in the Dordogne region, where he runs a holiday cottage and wildlife tour business. David is Butterfly Conservation s European Interest Group contact in Dordogne. Previously he worked for over twenty years as a warden on various sites of the coastline of northern England, and more recently in Mauritius as island warden for the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation at Ile aux Aigrettes. He has published articles in British Wildlife and is author of the book Birding Dordogne in the popular BirdGuides series. David has designed and led all of our tours to The Dordogne; this June 2016 trip will be our ninth tour there and the last of three visits we have planned for What You Say David couldn't have been kinder or more helpful... The Wallcreepers (which is why we came) were SUPERB!!" HB, France Dordogne tour A very varied trip - so much to see / discuss that we did not notice the time going by. Great company and great food as well - what more could you want? MR, France Dordogne tour Tour was exactly as described. David was excellent - enthusiastic but easy going and good company. Perfect balance of natural history and exploration of French countryside with enthusiastic leader and great service at hotel. RR, France Dordogne tour Financial Security Limosa Holidays is a fully bonded Tour Operator and a member of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO). We hold an ATOL (Air Tour Operators Licence) granted by the CAA, providing for your protection in the event of Limosa Holidays' insolvency. Our licence number is ATOL For tours not including the cost of a flight from the UK or for holidays booked by you as Land Only, all payments made to us are fully bonded through the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT). Our ABTOT membership number is For details please see our brochure or website: Limosa Loyalty Discount We are proud of the number of loyal customers who travel regularly with us. As our way of saying thank you, we offer a Frequent Travel Discount. Under the scheme, everyone who takes four trips with us is entitled to claim a 5% discount on their 5th trip *1. Remember to request your discount at time of booking! *1 Please note: This offer applies to the basic tour cost only and excludes certain commissionbased trips, extras such as additional flights, private extensions and cancellations. Discounts cannot be given in lieu of tour deposits or off the cost of single room supplements info@limosaholidays.co.uk

5 How To Book Check availability on our website or with our office. We are happy to hold Provisional Reservations for up to 7 days. After this, we do require a Booking Form and deposit to confirm your place on tour. Any unconfirmed space will be released. Book Online, by Phone or by Post You can book and pay the deposit simply and securely Online via our website, using the Book This Tour button on the relevant tour page or the Booking tab at the top of the page. Telephone bookings must be confirmed in writing by completion of a Booking Form (there's one tucked inside every brochure or as a PDF download from our website), which can be mailed to us in the time honoured way. Be sure to read our Booking Conditions and General Information (found at the back of our brochure, on our website or available from our office on request) prior to booking. When to Book Early booking is advised since flights and accommodation are much more easily secured well in advance. To encourage early booking, we are pleased to offer an Early Bird Discount - see our current brochure or website for details. Our tours are limited to small group sizes. So they can fill up quickly - sometimes even before our new brochure comes out! Single rooms in particular can often be in short supply and among the first to go, so do try to plan well ahead if you definitely require one of these. Last-minute Bookings: We inevitably receive a few unexpected cancellations over the course of a season so it is always worth enquiring about vacancies on any tour - even for those departing in just a few weeks! Payments The amount of booking deposit per person is shown alongside every tour. We accept deposit payments by debit card, cheque (payable to Limosa Holidays and drawn on a UK bank in GB Pounds Sterling) and BACS (please ask for our bank details). We also accept Visa and MasterCard credit cards, with no transaction charge on payment of tour deposits. Full payment of the balance is due not later than 12 weeks prior to departure (20 weeks in the case of certain tours such as cruises or those involving rail travel). We will send you an invoice before the balance is due. We accept payment for balances (and interim payments) by cheque, BACS or UK debit card. We also accept balances (and interim payments) by credit card or overseas debit card but with a charge of 2% of the transaction amount to help offset card company charges. [Note that we do not retain your card details, which are destroyed once used. This means we may need to phone you again for details for subsequent payments.] Payment by overseas customers must be in GB Pounds Sterling and may be made by transfer to our bank (please ask for our bank details), or by overseas debit or credit card with a 2% transaction charge. Please note we do not accept cheques on US Banks in US Dollars, or cheques in Euros or Eurocheques. Late Booking Payments: In order for us to guarantee your airline seats, hotels etc., full payment is required at time of booking for all late bookings (i.e. bookings made within 12 weeks of departure). Other Things You Need To Know Passports & Visas For UK passport holders, your passport must be valid for the proposed duration of your stay. Although no additional period of validity beyond this is required, when travelling anywhere overseas we always recommend that your passport has a minimum of 6 months left to run after your intended date of return home in case of unforeseen delay info@limosaholidays.co.uk

6 VISA NOT REQUIRED by UK passport holders. Holders of non-uk passports should contact the nearest French embassy or consulate to enquire whether or not they require a visa. If a visa is required, you need to apply locally. If the embassy or consulate requires you to provide a letter confirming that you are booked on an allinclusive tour, please contact our office and we will be happy to provide one. Health & Vaccinations Compulsory vaccinations: None. Recommended vaccinations: For travel everywhere (even within the UK) however, we recommend you check you are up-to-date with protection against tetanus, polio and hepatitis A. The above information, together with that contained within our Travel Information sheets (sent to everyone who books), outlines health requirements for this tour. Please note that these details are given for guidance only - and are only for certain diseases - and you must consult your doctor in good time prior to travel as to what immunisations (if any) are needed for your chosen holiday. For full and up-to-date health information we urge everyone to consult The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) website prior to booking any overseas holiday. NaTHNaC is funded by the UK Government s Health Protection Agency and provides health information for both health professionals and travellers, with information compiled by its own clinical and scientific team. You can search for individual country requirements, which are updated regularly. Your Safety & Travel Advice An unavoidable aspect of travelling abroad nowadays is the risk it may pose to your safety and security. The best advice on current risks is provided by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). In order to assess and protect against any risks in your chosen destination we strongly recommended that you refer to the relevant FCO Travel Advice - both prior to booking and regularly before you travel. See It is standard Limosa policy for our office to send a copy of the relevant FCO Travel Advice about the tour to all participants along with their Final Letter (ca. 2-3 weeks prior to the trip). Know Before You Go - staying safe and healthy abroad - is a travel safety campaign run by the FCO, and another useful resource. Go to: Further useful information on visas, health, etc., can be found at the World Travel Guide website: Travel Insurance Good travel insurance is essential before setting off on any overseas trip. In common with all responsible tour operators, it is a condition of booking that all clients are fully and adequately insured before travelling overseas with us. Your travel insurance should cover against cancellation, curtailment, missed departure, delay, personal accident, death, loss of baggage and valuables (see note below), personal liability and legal expenses. Most importantly, your insurance must cover you fully in respect of medical care and repatriation should you become too ill to continue with the tour, including the cost of emergency evacuation by helicopter or air ambulance should this be necessary. Note that passenger liability insurance covering the transportation that we hire, particularly in Third World countries, may be inadequate; it is therefore important that your insurance cover includes sufficient provision for your dependents in the event of an accident. We recommend that you obtain travel insurance as soon as possible after booking your holiday to ensure you are protected right from the word go in the event of unexpected cancellation prior to departure due to accident or illness. You must inform your insurers of any pre-existing medical conditions (including those of persons not necessarily travelling but upon info@limosaholidays.co.uk

7 whom your holiday may depend) that may require treatment during a period of overseas travel or might cause you to cancel the trip. Once you have arranged your insurance, please be sure to send us the following essential details: name and contact details of your insurance provider, your policy number, expiry date and your insurers 24hr Emergency Assistance number. Important things to note about Insurance Travel Insurance does not normally provide sufficient cover for valuable optical equipment, which is often best protected under your own household insurance policy. If in doubt ask your insurers for advice prior to travel. Most travel insurance policies limit the amount of cover, typically up to a maximum tour cost of 5000 per person. If the tour you are booking exceeds this amount, additional cover can usually be provided upon payment of additional premium. We recommend all travellers check their individual policy limit to ensure the full cost of their holiday is covered. Arranging Your Insurance: due to UK Government legislation, under Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations, we are not allowed to offer or recommend travel related insurance to customers. Premiums can vary widely according to your age, needs, health, choice of destination and other factors, while many people nowadays have Annual Travel Insurance cover. For these reasons, we leave you free to shop around and pick your own policy, one best suited to your own individual needs. needs will be met. Please be sure to tell us about these (in as much detail as possible) at the time of booking, to allow good time to make the necessary arrangements. Smoking Almost all of our clients prefer a smoke-free environment. For the enjoyment and comfort of all, we ask that smokers refrain from smoking in proximity to the group and respect our NO SMOKING policy in the vehicle, at meal times and when watching wildlife. Any Questions? If you have any questions at any time, you ll find our office staff friendly, efficient, approachable - and just a phone call away, eager to assist you in every way. Our office is open hrs Mon-Fri, and can also be reached by fax and . In the event we are unable to take your call, please leave a message on our answerphone (24 hrs) and our office will contact you as soon as we can. Thank you for your interest in our tours. We do hope that you will be able to join us - and we look forward to hearing from you again! CKrev General Information Our website gives easy access to detailed tour itineraries (Tour Info Packs), trip reports, trip photos and the latest Limosa News. Special Diets & Other Requests We pass on all such requests to the airlines, hotels and other suppliers, and do our best to ensure (but of course cannot guarantee) that your info@limosaholidays.co.uk