Description
Albufeira de Santa Maria de Aguiar is housed in a valley with gentle slopes, where the Aguiar river flows. This reservoir is one of the most important wetlands in the district of Guarda. The scarcity of other wetlands nearby makes this area an important refuge for water birds, especially for čopasti ponirek, with this reservoir having one of the most important population centers nationally. Of the water birds also stand out species like žličarica, mlakarica, dolgorepa raca, konopnica, kreheljc, sivka, mali ponirek, liska, zelenonoga tukalica, polojnik, sabljarka, rjava čaplja, plevica and žličarka. On the banks of the reservoir and the streams that flow into it, the aquatic and riparian vegetation is occupied by kozica, grahasta tukalica, čapljica, siva čaplja, slavec, svilnica, kobiličar, rakar, srpična trstnica,bičja trstnica and vodomec.
As regards the surrounding area, the vegetation is dominated by farmland, pastures and small forest areas that allow the presence of landbirds. In the bushes and trees of the east bank it is possible to hear and, with luck, observe species such as zelena žolna, veliki detel, mali detel, šoja, kobilar, španska kotorna, prepelica, taščična penica. You can also observe species like smrdokavra, čebelar, priba, rjavoglavi srakoper, južni veliki srakoper, sraka, Iberian Magpie and španski škrjanec on the banks of this reservoir. You should also prospect the skies, which are often crossed by large birds of prey, such as ribji orel, lebduh, egiptovski jastreb, Sršenar, Black Vulture, beloglavi jastreb, kačar, mali orel, planinski orel, rjavi lunj, močvirski lunj, skobec, kragulj, rjavi škarnik, črni škarnik, sokol selec, škrjančar, navadna postovka. In the skies you can also see several species of swallows: kmečka lastovka, rdeca lastovka, skalna lastovka, mestna lastovka, breguljka; and swifts: hudournik, planinski hudournik, bledi hudournik.
Details
Access
You can park your car next to the dam wall and explore all the area on foot. You can explore the dam wall, the east bank of the reservoir and the surrounding areas. See the map bellow.
