Westwards from Portimao is a rocky coast known as the 'Barlavento' meaning wet and windy. The hilly coastal land becomes less fertile, and the population density decreases. The arid and windswept headlands of Cape St Vincent are composed of limestone rocks, weathered into a plateau and ending abruptly in overhanging cliffs some 80m high.
Apart from being heavily grazed by cattle and sheep, the headlands are relatively undisturbed by man and still hold plenty of botanical interest. The dominant plant is Portuguese cistus which forms low compact spreading bushes with extremely shiny sticky leaves. Few plants are actually in flower, but they include the yellow Calendula sufruticosa and the spiny Astrogalus massiliensis ‑ few plants have common Portuguese names, let alone English. Hottentot fig covers much of the rocky ground.
At Sagres, strong winds of indeterminate direction swirl along the coast, and there is a heavy swell on the sea. Most of the birds over the sea are gannets, predominantly adults heading west. A couple of balearic shearwaters, a little gull, a kittiwake, and a few razorbills, some in summer plumage. Closer inshore are a few black-headed gulls, cormorants and shags, while lesser black‑back and herring gulls either follow the fishing boats or hang-glide along the top of the cliff.
The headland is populated mainly by black redstarts, linnets and meadow pipits. A first winter male blue rock thrush is busy catching bees in flight. It spends some time carefully wiping the sting off each bee before swallowing it.
Sagres is considered to be a good place to see thekla lark, a species very similar to crested lark, differing mainly in habitat and in the colour of its underwing coverts. A thorough look at all the larks today reveals only cresteds – even though our information says they don’t occur here!
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