26th Dec 1988 - Rio Sil

We continue south‑west generally following the Rio Sil which has been dammed in many places for H.E.P. Some of the reservoirs are quite low ‑ waiting for the winter snow and rain. Then the bright limestone mountains give way to a rather murky grey area dominated by coal mining and coal dust. The grey rock, bare trees and early morning gloom added to the atmosphere.

The mist gets thicker and thicker, the road passes along viaducts and tunnels - though it is hard to tell which are which - through the moun­tains. We come out of a third tunnel into bril­liant sunshine and a lush landscape of pines, broom and vineyards, the hills are still big but rounded and red. Somewhere here we surprise a small covey of grey partridge on the road ‑ they are found in only a relatively small area of north west Spain.

It is lunch‑time as we come across a car park next to a small reservoir. A cetti's warbler calls from the vegetation, and a pair of rock buntings forage in the crevices of an exposed patch of slate.

The Rio Sil flows through a gorge for some kilometres before it joins the Rio Miño, and the road takes a detour through Monforte. The road joins the Miño and follows the gorge of that river, winding steeply downhill to Orense. The steep slopes were either well wooded or terraced for cultivation, and the low level of water in many of the reservoirs show more terraces that have been drowned. These river valleys still form the main communications routes of the area, and must have supported a fairly dense human popula­tion to make the building of terraces worthwhile. It seems a shame that so many have been destroyed by the creation of the reser­voirs. A few mallard are all that we saw on the water.

We find an open campsite between the vine­yards at Leiro, and spend most of the remaining daylight watching siskins doing acrobatics while feeding on the seeds of oriental plane trees. Over the rocks of a distant hill Jim picks out crag martins ‑ just about visible through the telescope.