By vehicle and on foot
Asphalt, dirt tracks and paths
Bird habitats you will find in this area:
The route begins in the town of Talarrubias, whose Plaza de España (o.p. 01) offers us the first observations of Lesser Kestrel, Common Swift, White Stork, House Martin and Barn Swallow. Once in the vehicle we head towards Puebla de Alcocer, to stop at the Visitación convent (o.p. 02) to see its large Lesser Kestrel colony and the same species as in the previous point.
We continue to the La Serena reservoir and stop at Cerro Masatrigo (o.p. 03), a magnificent hill to look for water birds such as Mallard, Northern Pintail, Red-crested Pochard, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Great Cormorant and Black-headed Gull, and other species such as Black and White Storks, Common Crane during winter, and Crag Martin and Blue Rock Thrush if we walk up to the viewpoint. We continue to Sancti-Spíritus and then Siruela, to make a stop at the Altagracia chapel to climb on foot to a natural viewpoint in the Sierra de Siruela (o.p. 04), through a profuse vegetation of Portuguese oaks, strawberry trees and mastic trees with Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Eurasian Jay, Northern Goshawk, Hawfinch and Eurasian Bullfinch in winter. At the top, look for Bonelli’s, Golden and Spanish Imperial Eagles, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Black Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush.
We continue to Garbayuela to visit Tabla Corta (o.p 05), a natural pool in the Cañada Real of Segovia to see Common Nightingale, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Garden Warbler and Common Chiffchaff, and overhead Black Stork, Cinereous, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Bonelli’s, Spanish Imperial, Short-toed and Booted Eagles. Our next stop will be Herrera del Duque to visit its castle (o.p. 06) and look for Griffon Vulture, Golden and Short-toed Eagles, Common Buzzard, Blue Rock Thrush, Black and Black-eared Wheatears.
Finally we reach the Puerto de las Navas trail, north of Herrera, to make a stop on the plains (o.p. 07) to see Lesser Kestrel, Thekla Lark, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Stone Curlew, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Great Short-toed Lark, ending at the shore of the García de Sola reservoir (o.p. 08) and look for Great Crested Grebe, Red-crested Pochard, Great Cormorant, Black Stork and numerous birds of prey that nest on the nearby cliffs of the Risco and the Peloche and Paniagua mountain ranges.
Puebla de Alcocer Castle: spectacular fortress, due to its state of conservation and its views of the biosphere reserve.
Mirador celeste: a small installation in Galizuela that interprets the night sky of the reserve.
Cerro Masatrigo: a real icon of the reserve, this hillock is declared a natural monument.
Dolmen of Valdecaballeros: or tholos of Cerro de la Barca, a magnificent example of a large megalith.
Birds that remain in the territory all year round.
Breeding birds that stay in the territory during spring and summer, migrating to their wintering grounds at the end of summer.
Birds that do not breed in Extremadura but spend the autumn and winter months here.
Birds that use the region as a stopover area, migrating from their breeding grounds north of Extremadura to their wintering areas further south.
