Well, Readers, here we are – the plane wasn’t cancelled, I managed to remain upright and, after a good night’s sleep I’m up for my first Austrian walk in two years. We took a nice gentle route, with a bit of uphill and downhill but nothing too terrifying, from Obergurgl down to the Hochgurgl lift station. This is always a great chance to see what’s currently in flower, take note of a few insects and get back before the predicted thunderstorm hits (96% chance by 13.00 apparently).

The Melancholy Thistles are in full bloom at the moment, along with these very fine white flowers, called Masterwort – they’re the same family as cow parsley, angelica etc, but are Alpine specialists, and are used in all manner of herbal remedies. We passed a couple of locals walking their dogs, a young Irish Setter and a very elderly Border Terrier. I’m keeping my eyes open for some area-appropriate dogs such as a St Bernard or a Bernese Mountain Dog (yes, I know they’re both Swiss but close enough!) One year, somebody had brought their hybrid wolf for a holiday, and it used to sit in the local bar and howl when it got bored.

It’s not until you start trying to identify Alpine flowers to species level that you realise how rich the flora is here – there are no less than 30 species of bellflower, so I shall need to do a bit more research to be precise with the one in the photo above. As it is, it’s delicate and the colour is beautiful. It looks most like a Harebell, but they aren’t found in the Alps (apparently).

And what’s this little guy? Betony-leaved Rampion (Phyteuma betonicifolium), a member of the Bellflower family (Campulanaceae). There are 24 species of this genus in the Alps, all blue and all with those strange, finger-shaped petals.

There are quite a few butterflies about, even though it’s a damp-ish, dull-ish day. There are two butterflies with their wings closed on this Melancholy Thistle….

…and one more obliging butterfly below – I think this is a Woodland Brown (Lopinga achene), a new one for me, and not a species that we find in the UK. (Updated – much more likely to be a Almond-eyed Ringlet (Erebia albergana), thanks to Mike at Alittlebitoutoffocus)

I was surprised to see mushrooms popping up on some of the wooden bridges – I’m never noticed them before. Maybe the result of a wet year, and higher than normal temperatures? Let’s hope they aren’t an indication that I’ll be shortly putting my foot through a plank.

The plants start to change as we walk alongside the river gorge.

One very common waterside plant, alongside the Masterwort, is the Adenostyle – the one below is the Alpine Adenostyle (Adenostyles alpina) – I love those large leaves.

And then we stop for a look at the Frog Pond. It’s doing very nicely! Lots of tadpoles, and crystal-clear water.

And here are some tadpoles in action…plus a very vigorous wren in the background!

And on we go, towards the bus station, but here was one plant that I was hoping to find…Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza majalis). What a glorious plant, and what a wonderful way to finish the walk! And as we wait for the bus home, it strikes me again how lucky I am to be back here, strolling through the meadows once again.