After visiting
Herrera's wettest place in the morning, we drove to the driest one in the evening. The
Sarigua desert is not a true desert actually, but a fragile coastal ecosystem known as "albina". Most of its tree-less landscape is due to the deforestation during the last century, though the area is also known as an important archaeological site. It is protected by its own
national park, located in coastal Herrera, close to the town of Parita. Of course, we were looking for birds in this arid habitat. Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where we walked a little trail through cacti and xerofitic vegetation, following the call of a Crested Bobwhite nearby, and finding Prothonotary Warbler, Blue-black Grassquit, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Mouse-colored Tyrannulet.
A
Bananaquit was eating in a cactus. I'm amazed by the adaptability of this little friend. You can find it in humid montane forest, residential gardens, and is doing just great in that arid site! We climbed the observation tower near the Center to have a panoramic view of the surroundings. There were some shallow lagoons in the distance that seemed to be full with birds, so we decided to drive in that direction. Shortly after we started to drive, a couple of ground-doves flew to the side of the road. A quick search and soon we were watching a beautiful pair of
Common Ground-Doves. This dove is only common, as its name suggests, in this part of the country, being absent in places just to the north or south. They were the first of many pairs that we encountered later. When we reached the lagoons, soon we identified most of the birds. Most of them were Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers with few Least Sandpipers. A group of plovers proved to be Collared, while some Black-necked Stilts and Black-bellied Plovers were feeding in the open.
The lagoons next to the mangroves in the other side of the park seemed promising, so we headed in that direction too. The road didn't reach those lagoons, so we parked the car and walked through a fantastic landscape of rocky formations for a kilometer or two. We found tons of herons and egrets, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Whimbrels, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, White Ibis, Laughing Gulls and Least Terns. We wanted to get closer, but it was getting late, so we started to return. We found more birds in the way back, including migrating Eastern Kingbirds and Barn, Bank and Cliff Swallows, Fork-tailed Flycatchers and flocks of
Yellow-crowned Amazons going to roost. It was a long day, full of contrasting experiences, a really nice way to taste some of Panama's great diversity.
After visiting Herrera's wettest place in the morning, we drove to the driest one in the evening. The Sarigua desert is not a true desert actually, but a fragile coastal ecosystem known as "albina". Most of its tree-less landscape is due to the deforestation during the last century, though the area is also known as an important archaeological site. It is protected by its own 
national park, located in coastal Herrera, close to the town of Parita. Of course, we were looking for birds in this arid habitat. Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where we walked a little trail through cacti and xerofitic vegetation, following the call of a Crested Bobwhite nearby, and finding Prothonotary Warbler, Blue-black Grassquit, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Mouse-colored Tyrannulet. 
A Bananaquit was eating in a cactus. I'm amazed by the adaptability of this little friend. You can find it in humid montane forest, residential gardens, and is doing just great in that arid site! We climbed the observation tower near the Center to have a panoramic view of the surroundings. There were some shallow lagoons in the distance that seemed to be full with birds, so we decided to drive in that direction. Shortly after we started to drive, a couple of ground-doves flew to the side of the road. A quick search and soon we were watching a beautiful pair of 
Common Ground-Doves. This dove is only common, as its name suggests, in this part of the country, being absent in places just to the north or south. They were the first of many pairs that we encountered later. When we reached the lagoons, soon we identified most of the birds. Most of them were Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers with few Least Sandpipers. A group of plovers proved to be Collared, while some Black-necked Stilts and Black-bellied Plovers were feeding in the open. 
The lagoons next to the mangroves in the other side of the park seemed promising, so we headed in that direction too. The road didn't reach those lagoons, so we parked the car and walked through a fantastic landscape of rocky formations for a kilometer or two. We found tons of herons and egrets, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Whimbrels, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, White Ibis, Laughing Gulls and Least Terns. We wanted to get closer, but it was getting late, so we started to return. We found more birds in the way back, including migrating Eastern Kingbirds and Barn, Bank and Cliff Swallows, Fork-tailed Flycatchers and flocks of Yellow-crowned Amazons going to roost. It was a long day, full of contrasting experiences, a really nice way to taste some of Panama's great diversity.
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