Sierra Brava Reservoir
A Wealth of Winter Wildlife in Extremadura

By Marcelino Cardalliaguet Guerra (extremadura@seo.org)

(Published in La Garcilla 121. Winter 2004. SEO/BirdLife)

A rich combination of inland waters, acorn-laden dehesas (open grazing woodland) and cereal cropfields makes Extremadura an ideal wintering site for many migratory species, the most spectacular being the Common Crane. Pride of place within this privileged area goes to a small reservoir straddling the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz

To the south of the Sierra de las Villuercas, surrounded by sweeping holm-oak dehesas and cropfields, lies Sierra Brava reservoir. In recent years it has proven to be an extraordinary wildfowl refuge, serving as home each winter to over 120,000 birds.

Extremadura’s capacity to take birdlovers by surprise seems to be endless, perhaps because many of its more out-of-the-way spots are still little known. The reason for this is twofold: firstly, most birdwatchers tend to make a beeline for a handful of tried and tested sites; secondly, there is a vast expanse of far-flung or hard-to-access terrain that no birdwatchers have yet explored.

Sierra Brava was the latest surprise package, appearing out of the blue in winter 2002 when members of the birdwatching group called “Grupo Ornitológico Cacereño (GOCE)” chanced upon 100,000 Anatidae, 15,000 gulls, 4500 Black-Tailed Godwits, about 8000 Cranes, nearly 1000 Ardeidae and 2000 more birds including Rallidae and Podicipedidae. Nobody so much as dreamt that this small reservoir, lost among dehesas and cropfields to the north of the celebrated Orellana Reservoir, might harbour such a huge concentration of birds.
Itinerary
Sierra Brava is today the best inland site in Spain for the observation of wintering birds. The most comprehensive route, enabling us to take in all the various scenarios of this singular site, starts at the turnoff towards Casas de Hito on the Zorita – Madrigalejo road, about two kilometres before reaching Madrigalejo itself. This sideroad takes us to the ricefields that lie to the south of the reservoir among holm-oak dehesas and remnant patches of dryfarming land.

In this patchwork landscape we will already run into huge flocks of Cranes, geese or Little Bustards feeding on the fallowland as well as sizeable flocks of Golden Plovers, Wood Sandpipers (only wintering site in Extremadura), plus passage and/or wintering groups of Black-Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Snipe, Redshank, Spoonbill, etc... On the fringes of the dehesas we may find Black-Shouldered Kites at any time of year, while Wrynecks have also been spotted in winter. The number of sightings is usually very high in this part of the route. We recommend a quick visit to the pond of Casas de Hito, taking a turnoff to the left about 5 kilometres after starting the route (its best to set the odometer at nought at the start to identify the turnoff). This track is usually in a very poor state so it’s best to make the journey on foot; the pond lies about one-and-a-half kilometres from the main track behind an earth embankment visible in the distance. This pond usually has several species of waders and Anatidae and also affords a good vantage point over the remaining tracts of dryfarming land, where Great Bustards may still be spotted

Continuing along the main track we come to the canal of the dehesas, from where we will strike out northwards. We are now skirting the Sierra Brava Reservoir, which lies to our left, behind the holm-oak dehesas that cloak this area. Several paths lead off towards the bank of the reservoir, surrounded at this point by rolling hillocks that give us a good vantage point over the whole mass of water. The scene that meets our eyes might be stunning: thousands and thousands of Anatidae scattered over the waters and banks of the reservoir, with large concentrations of Gadwall, Shoveler, Mallard, Pintail, Teal and Greylag Goose.

Lurking among these commoner species might also be rarer ducks and geese such as Greater Scaup, Tufted Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Barnacle Goose, White Fronted Goose or Shelduck. The few flat islets of the reservoir offer a foothold to over 4000 Black-Tailed Godwit and about one thousand Cormorants, plus about 15,000 Lesser-Black-Backed and Black-Headed Gulls accompanying the ducks and geese on the reservoir. More unusual gulls for these parts such as the Common Gull might also turn up. For the return trip we recommend taking the road that leads up to the reservoir wall, where there are usually flocks of the larger and smaller grebes, often including the scarce Black-Necked Grebe.