Exploring the Roudillou ponds at Bournazel and Lagarrigue

Starting point: Moulin du Roudillou car park (from Roussennac, head towards Étang de Roudillou).

(S/E) Leave the car park and turn left onto the road until you reach a Fork in the road.

(1) Head up to the left along a farm track, turn off towards the hamlet of La Bessière, and head left to join the D53.

(2) Turn left onto the D53 towards Bournazel for 50 metres, then take the first turn right then left to join the Route de la Visinie. At the first house, head down to the right along a footpath to reach Cavagnac. Beautiful views of the lake. Arriveat the Étang du Ségala.

(3) There is an information board for the Étangs du Ségala Natura 2000 site. Continue along the road (D53) and turn left onto the small tarmac road. Pass the path to Bezanes on your right.

(4) Head down a farm track to the left. Further on, leave the track to your left and enter the forest via a footpath. Cross the footbridge. Continue to the mill at the Heath pond.

(5) There is another sign marking the Natura 2000 site. Walk back up the road, passing Lagarrigue Haute on your left, and head left. Follow the road downhill and, further down, pass Lagarrigue Basse on your left.

(6) Leave the road and turn left onto a path leading towards the wetland. Follow the path to the car park, skirting the Roudillou (S/E).

Alternative route at (5): to return to the car park, follow the path through the woods. There is a ford at Roudillou. Please note: this route is only accessible in summer.

Bournazel Pond is home to:
- The Southern Bladderwort (Utricularia australis): an aquatic carnivorous plant that feeds on small aquatic insects using its tiny jaws, known scientifically as utricles. It flowers in the pond in late summer, adorning the water’s surface with a bright yellow colour.
- The basket rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris): a very tall rush that was once cultivated on Bournazel Pond and used for thatching chairs and armchairs.
- Broad-leaved Sagittaria (Sagitaria latifolia): a very beautiful aquatic plant, which grows only on the banks of Bournazel Pond throughout the department.
- The European otter (Lutra lutra): a very elusive mammal, the otter is nevertheless relatively common in the Rignac area. It feeds on fish and amphibians, but above all on the numerous crayfish found in the lakes and rivers of the area.
- The Yellow Meadow-rue (Thalictrum flavum), a protected plant that grows in the tall-herb communities along the banks of Bournazel Pond.
- Goose cinquefoil (Potentilla anserina), a common plant in France but rare in Aveyron. It is indicative of the oceanic climate found in the department of Aveyron.
The old trees in the area, meanwhile, are home to the Great Capricorn Beetle and the Stag Beetle. These are two protected saproxylic insects that feed on dead wood. It is not, therefore, these insects that cause the trees to die, but rather the trees’ dying condition that attracts the insects to them.