Birdwatching on São Jorge: the Cubres lagoon, Ilhéu do Topo, the Rosais cliffs and SOS Cagarro

São Jorge has the only coastal lagoons in the Azores, on its north coast, and off its eastern tip a grazed islet that ranks among the archipelago's most important seabird breeding sites. You need neither a guide nor a boat for either. This guide covers where to go and when, which birds the official sources list, and what to do if you find a young shearwater on the road between mid-October and mid-November.

Fajã dos Cubres and Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo are the only coastal lagoon system in the Azores. Since 2 December 2005 the two lagoons and their fajãs have been Ramsar site no. 1615, a wetland of international importance covering 87 hectares. The Ramsar listing describes them as habitat for breeding and migrating birds and names the Kentish plover, the roseate tern and Cory's shearwater.

The Cubres lagoon is the easy one. A road winds down the cliff from Norte Pequeno to the fajã, and the lagoon lies right beside the houses and the Nossa Senhora de Lourdes chapel. It has no channel to the sea, so the water at the western end is saltier than at the eastern end, and banks of sharp-pointed rush grow around it. Common snipe, common tern and yellow-legged gull are among the birds recorded nesting there. Walk the edge slowly, stay out of the rushes, and give it an hour around low light rather than ten minutes at midday.

Check the road before you go. A landslide closed it on 25 September 2026, after earlier closures in October 2025 and January 2026. The Calheta council and RTP Açores report closures and reopenings.

The second lagoon has no road at all. It is connected to the sea and is best known for its clams. The official trail page calls it an important place for resident birds and for some migrant species, without naming them.

You reach it on the PR01SJO, a linear trail of 9.3 km graded medium that takes about two and a half hours. It starts at the Serra do Topo wind farm on the regional road and drops through heather, juniper and Azores holly to Santo Cristo, then follows the coast past Fajã do Belo to Cubres. The trail sheet mentions whimbrel, the Azores subspecies of the goldcrest and the local buzzard, which islanders call milhafre. Walk it in that direction, downhill, and arrange a taxi at the Cubres end. When the Cubres road is shut, no taxi can reach that end and you walk back up the way you came, so check the road and the regional trail alerts before you start. Our guide to surfing at Santo Cristo covers the fajã itself.

The islet lies about 100 metres off the south-eastern tip of the island, a flat green block of about 12 hectares with cattle and sheep on top. It became a nature reserve in 1984 and has been protected under the EU Birds Directive since 1990. The Visit Azores page for the protected area names roseate terns, common terns and Cory's shearwater. Other species on record there include the little shearwater, the whimbrel, the turnstone and the sanderling.

The sea off the north-east of São Jorge is a marine Key Biodiversity Area of about 71 square kilometres. Its 2008 assessment counted about 96 pairs of roseate tern, around 111 pairs of common tern, and 5 to 10 pairs of Madeiran storm-petrel nesting on the islet. The area was drawn around the water used by two roseate tern colonies.

You cannot land on the islet. From Porto do Topo or the lighthouse you look straight across at it. The terns are there in the breeding season, and between spring and autumn you can watch the shearwaters come in to the islet at dusk. Bring binoculars. Our guide to Topo and the eastern tip has the drive and the village.

At the other end of the island the Rosais lighthouse stands on cliffs more than 200 metres high. Visit Azores lists roseate tern, common tern and Cory's shearwater as breeding seabirds there, and the GR02SJO trail sheet adds the Barolo shearwater on the cliffs. Stay back from the edge, which has slipped before, and come towards evening: Cory's shearwaters spend the day at sea and return to their colonies at dusk. Our Ponta dos Rosais guide covers the road, the lighthouse ruins and the Sete Fontes forest park on the way.

We found no operator on São Jorge offering birdwatching trips. The closest thing is a whale-watching trip from Velas: Sea Explorers listed a three-hour cetacean trip at EUR 65 a person in October 2026. The boat goes out for whales and dolphins, not for birds, but it works the same water where the shearwaters feed, and in summer you may well see them. Our whale-watching guide has the details. Ask about the current price when you book.

In autumn the young shearwaters leave their burrows for the first time, at night. Street lights confuse many of them and they come down on roads and in villages, where they struggle to take off again. The regional SOS Cagarro campaign runs its 32nd edition from 15 October to 15 November 2026. In 2025 more than 7,500 young birds were picked up across the Azores.

If you drive after dark on São Jorge in those weeks, go slowly near the coast, especially below Topo and Rosais, and keep a cardboard box in the car. If you find a bird:

• Cover its head with a towel or jumper. It calms down, and it can bite.
• Put it in a box with air holes and close it.
• Call the free SOS Cagarro line, 800 292 800, and ask where to take it.
• If you are told to release it yourself, wait for daylight and a calm sea.

When is the best time for birdwatching on São Jorge? Spring to early autumn for the terns and shearwaters at Topo and Rosais. The lagoons at Cubres and Santo Cristo have resident birds all year and some migrants. Mid-October to mid-November is SOS Cagarro.

Can I visit Ilhéu do Topo? No. It is a protected area and you watch it from the shore at Porto do Topo or from the lighthouse, about 100 metres across the water.

How do I get to the Fajã dos Cubres lagoon? By road from Norte Pequeno, when it is open; it was closed by a landslide on 25 September 2026. Otherwise on foot, at the end of the 9.3 km PR01SJO from Serra do Topo.

Are there birdwatching tours on São Jorge? We found none. A whale-watching trip from Velas, EUR 65 in October 2026, passes the shearwaters' feeding grounds.

• Ramsar Sites Information Service, "Fajãs" of Caldeira and Cubres Lagoons
• Parques Naturais dos Açores, Fajãs da Caldeira de Santo Cristo e dos Cubres
• Wikipedia, Fajã dos Cubres
• Azores Trails, PR01SJO Serra do Topo - Caldeira de Santo Cristo - Fajã dos Cubres
• RTP Açores, Cubres road closed by a landslide (25 September 2026)
• Visit Azores, protected area of Ilhéu do Topo
• Wikipedia, Topo Islet
• Key Biodiversity Areas, São Jorge - Nordeste
• Visit Azores, Rosais lighthouse
• Sea Explorers, cetacean watching from Velas
• RTP Açores, start of the 32nd SOS Cagarro campaign (15 October 2026)
• Terra Azul, what to do with a grounded cagarro