Discover the natural treasures of the Hâble d’Ault between land and sea. We will cross mounds of pebbles, testament of the industrial exploitation of this resource, to arrive to the first ornithological observation post. Throughout this route between sea, pebbles and marshland we’ll discover the flora of the edges of the path (milfoil, wild teasel, birdsfoot trefoil, yellow stonecrop, potentillas, tansy ragwort…) and the shrubby vegetation (sea-buckthorn, privet, traveller’s joy, bramble…). We will stop at several observation posts along the way, to link the ornithological observation to the flora of the marshes (yellow flag, cattail, water sorrel, common reed).
At the end of this path, between the sea and the wetlands, we’ll reach the communal road. We’ll review the history of this very special place, a land of conquests during the Hundred Years War, of great civil engineering accomplishments in the 18th century as well as of industrialization in the 19th century. We’ll continue to the remnants of the Pebble Farm along the shorebird pond where the ballet of avocets, white stilts, sandwich terns (depending on the season) will be a delight to us.
Walking back on the seawall, we’ll take our time to focus on the coastal plants (sea cabbage, sea matrix, yellow horn poppy, deer horn plantain), and contemplate the different landscapes while talking about the geological formation of the Hâble with the dead cliff, and its hydrology.
