Description
The natural monument of Portas de Ródão is a breathtaking masterpiece of nature in the region of Central Portugal. River Tagus flows through two gigantic quartz rocks, truly reminding of “doors”. On the north top of Portas de Ródão, that can be easily reached by road, you will find the small castle of King Wamba (named after a Visigoth king), also known as the “Castelo de Ródão”. From this viewpoint you will have a wonderful panoramic view over the Tagus valley and you can find threatened birds, such as egiptovski jastreb, rjavi jastreb, grahasti plešec, planinski orel, kragulji orel, kačar, mali orel, Sršenar, rjavi škarnik and črna štorklja. Within the soaring birds, the beloglavi jastreb are the one that stand out, as this natural monument is home to the largest colony in the country. Portas de Ródão is also a good spot to detect podhujka, lesna sova, Pegasta sova, čuk, veliki skovik, mala uharica and the extraordinary velika uharica. The best way to prospect the crags is taking a boat trip. Not only allows you to observe the beloglavi jastreb more closely, but also allows you to detect other rupicolous birds, such as puščavec andplaninska pevka. The boat trip also allows you to observe vodomec, mlakarica, mali ponirek, čopasti ponirek, zelenonoga tukalica, mali martinec, veliki kormoran, siva čaplja, velika bela čaplja, mala bela caplja; and other birds that are in the river bank like bela štorklja, krokar, črna vrana, priba, Iberian Magpie and sraka. A walk through the surrounding lands also allows the detection and observation of prepelica, španska kotorna, čopasta kukavica, kukavica, smrdokavra, čebelar, kobilar, rjavoglavi srakoper, južni veliki srakoper, svetlooka penica, rjava penica, poljski vrabec, skalni vrabec and repnik. In the skies you can also see several swifts: gibraltarski hudournik, planinski hudournik, hudournik and bledi hudournik.
Details
Access
You can start the visit next to the bridge over the Tagus River and drive to “Castelo de Ródão”. You can also take the boat trip in the village of Vila Velha de Ródão or explore the surrounding areas on foot. See the map bellow.