By vehicle and on foot
asphalt and dirt track
Bird habitats you will find in this area:
The route starts from the town of Valverde de Leganés with the first stop at the Campana farmhouse (o.p. 01) to look for Lesser Kestrel and further along Great and Little Bustards, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, European Roller, Montagu’s Harrier, Calandra and Greater Short-toed Larks… and in winter Hen Harrier, Merlin, Northern Lapwing, European Golden Plover, Eurasian Skylark and Meadow Pipit. In the scattered holm oaks there is a breeding population of Black-winged Kites and Long-eared Owls. We continue until we stop at the Conde track with two itineraries on foot: towards the north, to the Adobal irrigation pond (o.p. 02) of about 4 km one way; and/or towards the south, to the Campillo-Valdesevilla area (o.p. 03) of about 2 km. In both we can observe the same sequence of birds as at o.p. 01, with the addition of species such as Mallard, Gadwall, Eurasian Coot, Grey Heron etc. in the Adobal pond.
We continue to La Albuera to head along the N-432 to our next stop and go on foot, about 2 km, to the Burro lagoon (o.p. 04): in these holm oak dehesas, Black-winged Kite, Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Iberian Magpie, Eurasian Hoopoe and Western Orphean Warbler are frequent… and at the lagoon, during the breeding season, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Eurasian Coot, Gadwall, Mallard, Black-winged Stilt, Whiskered Tern, Collared Pratincole and occasionally Western Marsh Harrier. During winter, Greylag Goose, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Pochard and Common Crane use the lagoon. On passage, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black Stork, Garganey, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Pied Avocet and Common Greenshank occur.
Back in the vehicle, we continue to the next stop to walk 1 km to Laguna Chica (o.p. 05) and then another 2 km to Laguna del Junco, on whose shore we will find a hide (o.p. 06). We will make our last stop to go on foot (1 km) to Laguna Grande (o.p. 07) where we will find two other hides. At all observation points and on the routes to them we can find similar birds as at o.p. 04.
Battle of La Albuera: annual recreation of the famous battle between Napoleon’s French troops and the Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish armies, during the Peninsula Wars in 1811.
Singular trees: Royal almond and Madre or Romo holm oak.
Interpretation centres: Llanos and lagoon complex of La Albuera and Battle of La Albuera, both in the town of the same name.
Nogales Castle: medieval fortress with a magnificent keep and spectacular views of the region.
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.
