Wildlife and plants along the Lot: an ecosystem to protect

From La Roquette's jetty, you can observe in just a few minutes what some people spend a lifetime searching for: a kingfisher diving, an otter gliding past, dragonflies dancing on the water. The banks of the Lot are a sanctuary for biodiversity.

The birds of the Lot riverbanks

The kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is the emblem of clean rivers. Its electric-blue plumage and its skimming flight low over the water make it instantly recognisable. At La Roquette, it regularly visits our stretch of bank, nesting in the clay walls a few hundred metres upstream. If you are up early and patient, you will almost certainly spot it between 7 and 9 in the morning.

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is also a regular: it stands motionless on the pebbles for long stretches, watching for fish with a sharp eye. The grey wagtail, recognisable by its bright yellow belly and its constant tail-bobbing, trots tirelessly across the exposed stones. In summer, sand martins nest in the sandy banks and hunt insects over the water from dawn to dusk.

More discreet but present: the dipper, the only songbird capable of walking underwater to find its prey; the osprey, a large migratory raptor that plunges feet-first to catch trout; and the night heron, a nocturnal heron that emerges after dark.

The otter and other bankside mammals

The European otter (Lutra lutra) had almost disappeared from France in the 1980s, a victim of river pollution, trapping and bank destruction. It has gradually returned to the Aveyron Lot, where water quality and the quietness of the banks provide a favourable habitat. Its spraints (droppings with a characteristic fishy smell) are regularly spotted on rocks along the Lot at Grand-Vabre.

Seeing one is a matter of luck — it is mainly nocturnal and very discreet. But knowing it is out there, somewhere under the black water at midnight, is already valuable information about the health of the ecosystem. Roe deer come down to drink at dawn in the riverside meadows. Martens and polecats frequent the scrubland areas.

Bankside flora: vegetation in motion

The vegetation along the banks of the Lot is organised in successive bands dictated by flooding frequency. Closest to the water: black alders, whose roots plunge into the river and stabilise the banks. Then the willows, taller and denser. Behind them: ash, poplar and, on the sunny slopes, the chestnut trees that dominate our landscape.

On the ground, wild orchids colonise the damp meadows in spring — dactylorhizas, buck orchids, bee orchids. Yellow marsh irises flower in May along the ditches. Yellow loosestrife and pink purple loosestrife punctuate summer with vivid colour.

La Roquette's role in conservation

Our phytoremediation system, our composting toilets and our refusal to use chemicals across the 7-hectare estate make a concrete contribution to the health of this ecosystem. Every gram of pollutant we do not release into the Lot is one more fish, one more otter, one more kingfisher in the river.

We also welcome researchers and naturalists wishing to study the site's biodiversity. If wild nature is at the heart of your travel motivations, La Roquette is made for you. Contact us to organise your stay.