A Wonderful Year of Nature Stories

It’s been exactly a year ago that I’ve published my first story on the Alps Hiking Blog. Edelweiss – The Symbol of the Alps, a short story on how perfectly adapted these tiny furry flowers are to life in the alpine zone. And since then, every week I’ve been sharing with you stories about the one thing I love the most: nature in our mountains. It has been such a great pleasure to share with you my passion for the natural world!

Sometimes people ask me if I have difficulties finding a new subject to write about every week, but the Alps are just so incredibly rich: there is an endless amount of stories hidden in these mountains. The list below shows the blogs I’ve published in the last 12 months and looking at the diversity of subjects in this list makes you marvel at how incredibly divers nature in the Alps actually is. I’ve been writing about mammals, birds, extraordinary mountain clouds, edible and medicinal plants, lichen, alpine flowers, et cetera, et cetera and there is still a lifetime of discoveries ahead of us ?

Thank you so much for reading these stories and appreciating the natural wonders of the Alps with me. I was lucky enough to meet some of you on the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer while visiting the Saussurea Alpine Garden. It has been so wonderful sharing with you everything I love so much about the Alps. I just can’t think of anything more fulfilling in life then sharing my passion with others. Thank you so much!

A Long List of Wonderful Nature Stories

Mammals

• Red deer rut: a true autumn wildlife spectacle – Oct 09, 2018
• Wildlife on the TMB – the alpine marmot Nov 06, 2018
• Wildlife in the Alps: Spotlight on the Ibex – December 26, 2018
• Wildlife in the Alps: Spotlight on the Chamois – January 4, 2019
• Ibex or chamois – January 14, 2019
• Wildlife on the Tour du Mont Blanc: Mammals – May 12, 2019

Birds

• Rock ptarmigans – brown in summer, white in winter – Oct 30, 2018
• Spotlight on the Alpine Chough – Nov 13, 2018
• Incredible encounter with a magpie – December 18, 2018
• Bearded Vultures and Their Astonishing Comeback – May 25, 2019
• Woodpeckers, Integral Birds in the Alps – June 22, 2019
• Finding Their Feathers – August 3, 2019
• Wanted: Alpine Chough – August 12, 2019

Fish, reptiles and amphibians

• Fish in High Alpine Lakes – May 25, 2019
• Reptiles and Amphibians – May 16, 2019

Extraordinary Mountain Clouds

• Extraordinary Mountain Clouds: Part 1 – November 21, 2018
• Extraordinary Mountain Clouds Part 2: Mont Blanc’s Hat – November 27, 2018
• Extraordinary Mountain clouds Part 3: The Matterhorn on fire – December 4, 2018
• Extraordinary Mountain Clouds Part 4: A Sea of Clouds – December 11, 2018

The Matterhorn

• How the Matterhorn got its iconic shape – Oct 16, 2018
• A unique peak – Oct 23, 2018

Edible and medicinal plants

• Edible Plants in the Alps: 5 easy to recognise species – March 23, 2019
• Medicinal plants in the Alps – Top 5 species – March 30, 2019
• Wild flowers to brighten up your salad – August 31, 2019

Flora in the Alps

• Edelweiss – The Symbol of the Alps – Sep 26, 2018
• Why are lichen so special? – March 17, 2019
• The extraordinary story of Anemone hepatica – April 7, 2019
• Why are mosses so special? – April 14, 2019
• Pollinators in High Elevations – June 5, 2019
• Butterworts and Sundews – Insectivorous Plants in the Alps – June 29, 2019
• Mighty Glaciers and Strong Flowers – July 6, 2019
• Little Thieves and Parasites – August 24, 2019
• The Incredible Houseleek – September 14, 2019

Nature highlights on the Tour du Mont Blanc

• Lacs des Chéserys – April 21, 2019
• Lac de Goillet – April 28, 2019
• Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve – May 5, 2019
• A Trient Glacier Trip to Remember – June 15, 2019
• Visiting the Saussurea Alpine Garden – July 20, 2019

Wildlife coping with winter

• Wildlife in the Alps: Coping with Winter – January 18, 2019
• Hibernation – January 25, 2019
• Turning White – January 30, 2019
• Life underneath the snow – February 3, 2019
• Surviving on Food Storage – February 10, 2019
• Vertical Migration – February 17, 2019
• Coping Strategies of Ibex, Chamois and Deer – February 24, 2019
• Snowshoeing in the Alps – How to protect wildlife in winter – March 8, 2019

Coniferous forests

• A guide to coniferous trees in the Alps – Oct 2, 2018
• Who’s been nibbling on that cone? – September 7, 2019

Mushrooms

• Mushroom Season – September 21, 2019

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Simone van Velzen

In her work as an alpine naturalist Simone adds an exciting new dimension to your Tour du Mont Blanc trek with insights into the incredibly rich flora and fauna of the Alps. Simone studied Wildlife Management at the Van Hall Institute in the Netherlands. After her studies she left her home country (which is flatter than a pancake) and moved to British Columbia. In the Canadian Rockies, she discovered the astonishing richness of mountain environments. Her passion for mountain nature was born. And when she returned to Europe, she based herself in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, the perfect setting for exploring and studying the natural history of mountain environments. As an alpine naturalist she writes for outdoor magazines and leads excursions in the natural world.

If you step into the natural world with Simone, her passion for all living things—wild flowers to lichen, birds to mammals—can’t help but rub off on you. She’s excited to meet you on your Tour du Mont Blanc and share the amazing natural wonders in the Alps.

Latest posts by Simone van Velzen (see all)

• The Alps: A Biodiversity Treasure Trove - December 10, 2020
• Flora in the Alps – Spotlight on the Alpenrose - June 25, 2020
• Tour du Mont Blanc Hightlight: The Contamines-Montjoie Nature Reserve - May 21, 2020