b

Parc Natural de s'Albufera des Grau

Menorca  >  Spain

The Albufera Natural Park at Es Grau is a water-marsh area in Menorca. The lagoon is separated from the sea by a sand barrier.

Ajouté* par Rob Bishop
Dernière actualisation 30 juin 2022

Description

The bird numbers at Es Grau Albufera the winter season has reached the figure of over eleven thousand water birds and over a hundred different species. The most common are Foulque macroule, Grand Cormoran, Chevalier sylvain, Fauvette mélanocéphale, Cochevis de Thékla and Bec-croisé des sapins. The birds of prey found here include Faucon pèlerin, Vautour percnoptère, Aigle botté, Balbuzard pêcheur and Milan royal.

These species share a natural habitat of wide variety, where we can come across different vegetation communities within the water areas. The banks of the lagoon grow plants rooted into the sediments, whilst their stems and leaves are above water level. The daily sinking sediment also grows thick bushes and magnificent tamarisk forests.

Détails

Accès

To reach S'Albufera es Grau take the PM710 out of Mao and after 1km turn off right on to the Es Grau road. After 3.5km the reserve entrance is signposted on the left. For the beach trail keep on the main road until you reach the village of Es Grau, there is car parking here and the beach trail can be reached by walking around the bay to reach the signposted start to the trail. Buses travel infrequently from Mahon bus station, but check times especially on public holidays.

Trails are open all year round - all day.

The Visitor Centre of the reserver is open Daily 9.00am to 3.00pm year round, with later opening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, to 5.00pm Nov-Mar and to 7.00pm Apr to Oct. There are toilets at the visitor centre.

If intending to walk the trails from the Visitor Centre, you can park closer to the start of the trails by passing the Visitor Centre and driving downhill to a dead-end just after a villa on the left. The entrances to the 2 trails are here and parking here cuts out the long drag uphill at the end of the walk.

There are three way-marked trails that can be followed on the reserve, wandering away from the trails is strictly forbidden. The Santa Mondrona trail is the longest and can be reached from the Visitor Centre and follows the south bank of the lake in a Westerly direction. There are a couple of viewing screens and one hide overlooking the lake with more viewpoints as well. The other trail reached from the Visitor Centre is the Cala de Llimpa trail and this is the shortest following the southern shore to the East. The third trail is reached from the beach (easiest access) or from the road into the village of Es Grau (not as obvious to find), this crosses the scrub to a viewpoint overlooking the lake.

Terrain et Habitat

Zone humide , Mer/océan , Plage , Arbres et buissons disséminés , Roselière

Conditions

Plat , Sablonneux , Marécageux , Glissant , Niveau d'eau élevé probable , Vallonné

Boucle

Oui

Avez-vous besoin d'une longue-vue?

Peut être utile

Saison idéale pour observer

Printemps , Hiver , Automne

Meilleure période pour une visite

Hiver , Printemps , Migration printanière

Itinéraire

Route pavée , Sentier large , Sentier étroit

Niveau de difficulté de l'itinéraire

Facile

Accessible via

A pied , Vélo , Voiture

Observatoire/hutte d'observation

Non

Informations supplémentaires

You can do coastal walks in area to see more sea birds if you walk from Es Grau on the Cami de Cavalls round island footpath. Walking information is on Boards around the Nature reserve. The site has boardwalks over flooded sections of the park.

The three main trails around the reserve are detailed below.

C1.- Llimpa’s Route (40min/ 1.7km). From the information centre, follow the road to its end where you can also park. Take the dirt track on your right that leads you to a beautiful viewpoint over the lagoon.

C2.- Santa Madrona’s Route (1hr). From the information centre, follow the road to its end where you can also park. Take the closed dirt track on your left and, after 200 meters, turn right to a bird watching hut. From there, go back some 100 meters, turn right and, at the next turnoff, again to the right on a wide track which you follow until another bird watching spot. Keep straight on and take a narrow path to the left that joins up with the dirt track. Go to the right to the car park.

C3.- Sa Gola’s Route (45min, 1.7km). It starts at K. 6 of the Me-5, near Es Grau. After the bridge, turn left to a viewpoint (5min), go back to the forested path (5min) and turn left. When you reach the beach (15min), go to the right to the village of Es Grau.

Liens

Voir les sites d'observation voisins publiés sur Birdingplaces

Carte

Top 5 oiseaux

Autres oiseaux que vous pouvez observer ici

Afficher plus d'oiseaux Afficher moins d'oiseaux
Afficher plus de photos Afficher moins de photos

Commentaires

Écrire un commentaire
Évaluer ce spot