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La Vanoise June 2023
I'm just back from a couple of weeks' holiday in the French Alps. Plenty of walking, some great wildlife and a little bit of sketching. Wildlife is never guaranteed, and this time it seemed the encounters were often brief or distant. And with long mountain walks to do, much of the sketching consisted of grabbed opportunities with little time to get to grips with the subject. Anyway, here is a selection of sketches and other pieces. I'm still working out some of the ideas and memories back at home, so hopefully there will be some more material to post in due course.
This sketch above was (part of) the view from our tent (not too bad, eh?). Two Golden Eagles provided a fitting welcome to the holiday!
Alpine choughs were a feature of many days. They are much like the choughs we have in the UK, but with shorter yellow bills. Similar cries and buoyant, acrobatic flight. They seem to delight in riding the updraughts along the crag edges and I never tire of watching.
But mammals were high on my wish list, and Ibex in particular. They seemed harder to find than on previous occasions, but do move around, and can never be guaranteed.
The older males are spectacular animals. I managed to get a few pages of drawings done, but no painting in the field. The two pictures below were done in the studio immediately when I got back while images and ideas were fresh in my mind. They are both a bit unfinished and unresolved, the second one in particular (of young males). A bit more work required.
We did come across family groups of female ibex with calves and other youngsters on a couple of occasions. Somewhat distant, but I would not wish it otherwise in this case. They were on high slopes for a reason. The pencil sketch shows one such group. It was an attractive setting with shaded crags, snow and scree. I particularly like the youngster clambering on, and peering around the rock. But it seems a bit of a "sweet" image and I have been unable to make anything of it compositionally.
Chamois are another great favourite of mine. La Vanoise is perhaps not the best place to see them. In fact we only saw one all holiday, and even that was rather too far for much detail. (Actually we did some some others but they were so far as to be practically unidentifiable!) You may remark that some of the pictures below have two chamois in them... well that is a bit of artistic licence arising from multiple sketches. Although really a bit far away, I couldn't resist trying to make something of the rough sketches: there is something iconic and attractive about chamois keeping cool on the snow in summer.
We had some great views of Lammergeier this time. But even the best views never seem to last long: they are restless birds, always on the move. Their flight never seems hurried, but hardly have you spotted one, and it glides away around the other side of the crag. Have a look at the side panel for some more birds.
Flowers are a highlight of any summer alpine visit, from the lower alpages to higher mountain slopes, there are carpets of colour everywhere. One of my favourites goes by the French name of La Soldanelle — Snowbell in English — also a pretty name, but I prefer the French. Maybe it's the extra syllable! They always seem to appear at the damp edge of retreating snow patches, illuminating an otherwise empty and rather squashed looking patch of ground.
Finally, the mountains often seem to provide some spectacular light: sunrise, sunset and storms. Well we didn't have many storms; the weather was really good. So here to finish is a sunrise - as seen from our tent. The cloud looks like someone in a bed-sheet pretending to be a ghost, waving their arms menacingly around the mountain. Ah well... if I ever re-work this idea, I'll be sure to fix it!
A few more birds
Black Redstarts are quite common mountain birds; this is a female carrying food for nestlings.
Like La Soldanelle, Snow Finches always seem to be found at the edge of retreating snow patches. No doubt because food is uncovered as the snow melts. They are very beautiful birds, especially in flight. At this season, mostly in pairs, but a flock is spectacular. They are superfically a bit like our more familiar snow bunting with a similar colour-scheme.
We mostly saw Ptarmigan flying off. In the Alps, at least outside the strict National Park, they are rather wary birds. Probably with good reason. They are, of course, superbly camouflaged. They always saw us before we saw them.
Water Pipits are the pipits of the mountain. A lot smarter-looking than our rock pipits. On the mountain they can be very elusive, but this one, perched up in a young pine, was very accommodating. (Perhaps a nest nearby.)
