Canal de Castilla Rey (Palencia), considered the beginning of the Northern Branch, Valladolid and Medina de Rioseco, lying at the end of the Southern Branch and Campos Branch respectively. The countryside crossed by the canal is of interest for its birdlife. In the Tierra de Campos there are two large Special Protection Areas ("La Nava-Campos Norte" and "La Nava-Campos Sur") which are notable for the birds such as great bustards ("Otis tarda") which live in the dryland farming areas (sometimes described as "steppes") which are typical of the region. The canal, on the other hand, provides habitats for wetland birds such as the
Otis Norcross great-great grandfather of Otis Norcross, Jr., both of whom served as schoolteachers in the early Watertown colony ("see family tree below"). This Norcross blood-line extends further in perpetuity with Otis Norcross' great grandfather Peter Norcross (1710–1777) whose younger brother William Norcross (1715 – "ca". 1775), and his wife Lydia [Wheeler] (married 6 Nov. 1741), are the great, great grandparents of Otis' third cousin once removed American poet, Emily Dickinson; daughter of Emily [Norcross] and Edward Dickinson; granddaughter of Joel Norcross and Betsey [Fay]; and great granddaughter of William and Sarah [Marsh] Norcross. During the American Revolution, the Norcross family "served