Crane migration in the Montes de Toledo

Every autumn they arrive from northern Europe and stay all winter. At first light they leave the reservoirs where they have slept and spread out over the dehesa; at dusk they come back. You hear them before you see them: the bugling of a flock of cranes carries a long way.

When they arrive and when they leave

The first birds reach Cabañeros around 15 October. From then on flocks keep coming in until the bulk of them settle for the winter.

They leave at the end of February: they gather into large flocks and head north, stopping at the Puebla de Beleña lagoon in Guadalajara and at Gallocanta, between Zaragoza and Teruel. So from October to February there are cranes about on almost any day.

The best hours are dawn and dusk, when they leave the roost and when they return to it. In the middle of the day they are scattered and harder to see together.

Where they come from

They breed across northern and eastern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states and western Russia. They come down the western flyway, which passes the German island of Rügen, the lakes of the French Champagne, the Landes de Gascogne and the Pyrenees, and makes its great Iberian stop at Gallocanta, where the November and February peaks gather more than 100,000 birds.

From there they spread out to their wintering grounds. Spain is the main one on the whole flyway: SEO/BirdLife puts 260,000 to 270,000 cranes wintering in the country. The Extremadura dehesas hold a little over half; the Montes de Toledo are one of the strongholds of the centre of the peninsula.

Why they stay here

Because the two things they need sit close together: water to sleep in and food for the day. They roost standing in shallow water, where no fox can get near without being heard, and by day they feed on acorns in the holm-oak dehesa, along with cereal stubble and leftover harvested maize.

The main roost in the district is the Torre de Abraham reservoir, at Retuerta del Bullaque; the second is Las Póvedas. In the January 2017 count, 6,859 cranes were recorded coming in to roost at Torre de Abraham and 1,856 at Las Póvedas: around 8,000 birds in Cabañeros and its surroundings that winter.

How to watch them

• At the roost, at dawn or dusk. The Torre de Abraham reservoir viewpoint has three interpretive panels and looks out over the reservoir and the Retuerta raña. It is the classic spot to watch the flocks come in.
• By day, over the dehesa and the stubble. You do not need a particular place: look up and listen. The flocks cross in a V and can be heard a long way off.
• Park visitor centres. Casa Palillos, Horcajo de los Montes and Torre de Abraham. Check opening times before you go, as not all of them open every day.

Bring binoculars: the viewing distance is long and they will not let you close. And do not approach the roost or leave the tracks: if they are flushed at night they lose the rest they have come 2,500 km south to find.

From Cork Valley

Cork Valley is in Hontanar, inside the buffer zone of Cabañeros National Park. Retuerta del Bullaque, the village of the Torre de Abraham reservoir, is 32.7 km away by road. Navas de Estena, the nearest gateway to the park, is 21.4 km along the same road the estate sits on.

The estate is 70 private hectares of holm oak and open dehesa, exactly the kind of country cranes spend the day in. In winter it is common to hear flocks pass over the estate first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon.

And when night falls the scene changes: Cork Valley is a certified Starlight Destination, so the last flock of the evening is followed by a sky with the Milky Way visible to the naked eye. You will sleep in a wooden cabin or a Mirror House, adults only, 130 km from Madrid.

• 32.7 kmTo Retuerta del Bullaque
• Oct–FebCrane season
• ~8,000Winter count in Cabañeros