We leave the town through an old path flanked by stone walls that leads to 'La Era', a place where cereals used to be threshed in order to separate the grain from the straw. We are surrounded by plots... (plus +)

We leave the town through an old path flanked by stone walls that leads to 'La Era', a place where cereals used to be threshed in order to separate the grain from the straw. We are surrounded by plots with olive trees and holm oaks, and in the street itself, in addition to some brambles and brooms, we come across an aromatic myrtle worthy of mention for its large size. Here, the common turtle doves, sparrows, starlings, and the little owl are frequent. Upon leaving the street, we will continue straight ahead, heading south, crossing the Vallehondo Stream, following the Colada de Majadal Alto. The surrounding landscape is a pasture of holm oak dotted with granite outcrops and a great diversity of herbaceous plants that show their maximum splendor in spring. There are many and varied birds that accompany us, such as crested tits, common shrikes, hoopoes, greenfinches, goldfinches, etc. Rabbits are also abundant here. The path passes by a granite quarry that is regularly flown over by a large number of swifts, swallows, and martins, including the crag martin. Peeking into its interior from the barrier formed by huge stone blocks, we will see a small pond that attracts various bird species such as reed warblers, little ringed plovers, and white wagtails. The solitary rock thrush can be seen at the top of the granite blocks, and under a tunnel made of pieces of the same material, there is a nest of red-rumped swallow made of mud and recognizable by its access tunnel to the breeding chamber. The quarry spoil heaps covered with soil are a splendid refuge for rabbits but also for the little owl. We join the Colada del Espartal, which we follow to the right heading west. The pasture is flown over by birds of prey such as the short-toed snake eagle, lesser spotted eagle, black or red kites, common buzzards, black-winged kite, griffon vulture, and black vulture, etc. After passing a house, we descend gently, cross a stream, and then the road. We will continue along the Colada del Molino de Valbuena, parallel to the Toril Stream. The stream presents a magical beauty favored by the huge granite outcrops covered with moss through which the water rushes and surrounded by ash trees, willows, large cork oaks, oleanders, hawthorns, and honeysuckles, among others. It also provides refuge for a great variety of birds whose songs we can hear during the journey; warblers, tits, coal tits, wrens, robins, nightingales, and treecreepers are just some of them. When we reach a crossroads, we can take the left one to approach a bird observatory with views of the mouth of the Toril Stream in the Zapatón River, which forms an open bay with relatively calm waters where species such as the mallard, little grebe, moorhen, kingfisher, and white wagtail can be observed, and numerous European pond turtles sunbathe on the rocks. After visiting the observatory, we return to the previous crossroads and take the road to the right, which will allow us to continue north parallel to the Zapatón River. On our left, the typical riverside vegetation prevails, while on the right, the pasture extends, so we can enjoy the faunal and botanical richness typical of these transit areas. Examples of these are: warblers, crested tits, jays, hoopoes, hoopoes, bee-eaters, nightingales, shrikes, wheatears, larks, pipits, black starlings, thrushes, blue tits, and treecreepers. At some point, a path appears to our right, we must take it crossing a cattle grid, and immediately we come across a 'Y' shaped crossroads, we will take the left one that will lead us to the La Molinilla Stream that we will have to cross. We pass by the water treatment plant and then turn left to return to the Zapatón River where the 'De Caní' Mill is located. We will continue along the path parallel to the river until we reach a weir known as 'La Pesquera', where an interesting wetland area has been created with abundant reeds and where we can observe species such as grey heron, purple heron, little grebe, moorhen, water rail, coots, kingfisher, and hoopoe, among others. Once we have enjoyed this enclave, we will continue following the course of the river northwards until we reach the Hermitage of Our Lady of the River, the patron saint of Villar del Rey. The route returns to the town along the EX214 road, with a distance of approximately one and a half kilometers, but if you want to avoid it, you can go back along the path we came from to the 'De Caní' Mill and take the path that goes into the pasture heading east, which will lead us back to the town.
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