Open spaces are ideal to see how males, especially montagu's harrier, strive to capture insects, small mammals and reptiles to bring food to the females patiently awaiting the hatching of the eggs. Now is the time to return to the A Terra Chá wetlands, Calvos de Randín and Baltar or A Limia. Here the wetlands are artificial but have become surprisingly natural since they have been formed from the flooding of old sand mines and provide grounds to observe the final moments of the nesting of species such as the great crested grebe. With a little patience, we can see what other species have bred: mallards, grebes, coots, moorhens and others can be seen in lagoons such as Cospeito in A Terra Chá, Xarfas in Louro (Muros) or Vixán in the Complexo Dunar de Corrubedo Natural Park. In addition, purple heron can be seen with fascinating camouflage. To observe nesting grey herons we must travel to the San Martiño reservoir in the region of Valdeorras, for instance.
If you prefer to take long walks with binoculars around your neck, it is an excellent month to walk into Galicia's best preserved forests
We recommend visiting the forests of Os Ancares and Montes de Cervantes. While walking in silence, preferably early in the morning, you can hear a great variety of forest species, including the rare and elusive black woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in Europe. The forests and chestnut groves of the Serra do Oribio, O Courel and Fragas do Eume Natural Park also host a large cast of forest birds. June is also the ideal month to try to see the citril finch, a species that in Galicia is practically restricted to the pine forests of the Serra do Xistral, which is difficult to visit for many months a year due to its harsh climate.
Not to be forgotten are other forests of great importance in which birdlife is teeming, such as the riverside forests. Some of the best areas are around the Tamega river in Oímbra, Monterrei and Verín. It is the ideal place to enjoy birds with a more restricted distribution in Galicia, such as the nightingale, which is justly famous for its song. Without leaving this area, its countryside and small forests provide us with multiple sightings of less frequent colourful birds, such as bee-eaters, ortolan buntings and, with some luck, the black-winged kite.
In June, the coastline is not as lavish in species as in the previous months or in winter
Still, it guards a small gem - the kentish plover, a small wader that breeds in the most wild and less crowded beaches. Nesting is finishing this month, and it is a good time to try to watch from a distance. To this end, the best beaches are Baldaio, Louro and Carnota and those in the Complexo Dunar de Corrubedo Natural Park and Lagoas de Carregal e Vixán.
And, as the tourist season has not yet arrived, it is perhaps a good time to go to the Parque Nacional Marítimo Terrestre das Illas Atlánticas de Galicia in good weather and enjoy the surroundings with very few visitors: a day trip by any route to the Illas Cíes or the Illa de Ons allow us to witness the advanced nesting of yellow-ledged gulls. european shags have finished breeding, so there are good number of them, including the adults and young ones born this year. Also, it is likely to see a surprising and rare bird, the alpine swift, which are present around the Cíes lighthouse.
