MONTE BRANCO
RIVER ANLLONS' ESTUARY
 
  
 
River Anllons' estuary is both an atypical creek and an area of very
important ecological value.
 
Following the steps of Eduardo Pondal 

Forming an atypical creek in the Costa da Morte, the Monte Branco (White mountain) is called that way because its white sand soil. Tides and wind have accumulated there a great sandbank of 2 km. long and 500 mt. wide, called A Barra.  
  
The beautiful landscape is formed as well by the small islands of Cagallons and Tinosa, and the sheltered beach and harbour of Balares, where Galician wolfram was exported during the II World War. National poet Eduardo Pondal used to walk and find inspiration in these magnificent scenes :  
 

Que diga o' mariñeiro,
Rudo fillo de Osmo,
O entrar pol-a Barra,
Volvendo o escuro rostro :
- Ali jaz o que fora,
N'outro tempo cantor do eido noso.
 
Let the fisherman say, 
Rude Osmo's son, 
When entering in A Barra, 
Turning his dark face :
- There lies the one that has been
poet of our land. 
 
 
 
Fish and bird wealth 
  
Near Ponte-Ceso, Monte Branco natural area is an important reserve of lamprey, salmon and trout, as well as it is a refuge of migratory birds and mammals like the otter and the gineta.  
  
Low tide provides rich quantity food to birds like the Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Ells platyrrhynchos, Charadrius alexandrinus, Numenius arquata and Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. The strong winds move the sand up to the hills, where dune vegetation grows in a considerable altitude regarding the sea : Calystegia soldanella, Euphorbia paralias, Pancratium maritimum, Laurus nobilis and Silene littorea. In the swamp areas the typical vegetation of Juncus maritimus and Phragmites australis is found.