The Domancy plain

5 points of interest

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  Fauna

  Bird migration: how do birds navigate themselves in flight?

  Migrating birds are sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field, that is aiding their navigation on long journeys towards their breeding and overwintering grounds. Magnetoreception is one of the many mechanisms that migratory birds use to navigate. They often combine this ability with other cues, such as stars, sun, gravitational field and visual cues. These incredible abilities of birds are being affected by urban/agricultural development. City lights confuse birds during nighttime. On top of this, the proliferation of large-scale farming and climate change are shifting the migratory patterns of certain species and endangering their journeys. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, one third of all nesting birds in mainland France are now at risk of extinction.

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  Fauna

  The Red-footed Falcon

  Smaller than a Kestrel, the Red-footed falcon has a slender body and a long tail. It is bluish-grey in colour. This falcon spends several days on the Domancy plain during its migration from late April to May. It is migrating from Africa where it overwinters, to Eastern Europe where it nests. The Alps are a major obstacle for migratory birds, which only cross the massif in valleys such as the Arve. You can see them perched on trees or fences during strong winds.

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  Fauna

  Dog excrement

  Dog faeces are more problematic than those of non-domesticated animals because of their high-protein diet, causing over-fertilisation of the soil and harming local flora and fauna. Even if the dogs were banned and were absent from any given territory, nutrients from dog faeces can remain in the soil for up to three years according to British scientific researchers Ecological Solutions and Evidence. If dog faeces are simply a nuisance on a city pavement or an annoyance on a beach, they can have far more serious, even fatal, consequences in meadows of fresh grass. Why, you may ask? A potentially fatal cattle pathogen, neosporosis is found in the faeces of certain canines. Dogs are potential viral hosts of this infectious pathogen, which is not transmissible to humans. Neosporosis is an epizootic: an epidemic affecting animals. This epizootic can cause miscarriages and embryonic lesions in cows. When out walking, pick up after your dogs to limit the risk of an infection.

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  Fauna

  The beaver: a protected species

  The beaver leaves behind a number of signs of its presence: jagged branches, burrows, lodges, etc. It prefers to come out at dusk, surveying its territory on either side of a watercourse. Water is essential to protect the entrance to its burrow and to escape danger, as well as to carry the branches it feeds on and needs for constructing dams. Europe's largest rodent, the beaver is perfectly equipped for swimming: it can remain underwater for up to 15 minutes without breathing. Translucent eyelids protect its eyes, like scuba goggles. Its webbed hind legs and flat tail act as propellers and rudders respectively.

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  Flora

  Dry grasslands

  This was an alluvial plain in the past. The farmers of yesteryear managed to turn this place into valuable agricultural land after several river diversions. The Granges de Passy site, with its famous scattered barns, is a unique landscape in Haute-Savoie, although it has lost much of its landscape and ecological features as a result of various human activities: local infrastructure (motorway, etc.) and urban development. It is still an interesting area, owing to the preservation of its original natural habitat, dry grassland (e.g. Mesobromion, a thin grassland dominated by a graminaceous plant : upright brome, which survives in sparse patches in between cultivated areas. Cereal crops are grown here. This site is rich in botanical diversity, it is home to protected orchid species, bug orchid. Dry areas are home to rare xerophilous (‘drought loving’) species such as glossy sedge (Carex liparocarpos).