Frustrating Times at Parque Nacional El Palmar

Parque Nacional El Palmar is located near Argentina's eastern border, a few hours north of Buenos Aires. The main habitat found in this national park is palm savannah, a severely fragmented ecosystem found in northeastern Argentina, Uruguay and barely into southern Brazil. PN El Palmar was established in 1966 to protect the extensive stands of the Yatay Palm (Butia yatay) which occur here. Though the palm stands are the dominant ecosystem and give the park a distinctive appearance, one can also explore riverine woodland and open grasslands at PN El Palmar. 

PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Laura and I opted to spend a night car-camping here since PN El Palmar is conveniently located halfway between Parque Nacional Iberá and the city of Buenos Aires. Being a national park, the visiting hours were completely unreasonable if one is hoping to see wildlife; the park gates open once the dawn chorus of birdsong has ended, and close just before the best hours in the evening. But by choosing to camp in the park, Laura and I had the option to search for wildlife that are more easily found at dusk and dawn (namely, everything). 

PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

PN El Palmar is quite famous in the "mammal watching" scene due to the healthy population of Geoffroy's Cats found here. If one dedicates three of four nights to spotlighting for mammals along the park's road system, a Geoffroy's Cat sighting would be more likely than not (but far from guaranteed). In addition to the cats, PN El Palmar is home to many other mammals including high numbers of Pampas Fox and Crab-eating Fox. Introduced Chital share habitat with the native Brown Brocket Deer. Neotropical River Otters can be found (with extreme patience) along the El Palmar river. And a population of distinctive and curious Plains Viscacha live in burrows at the campground, emerging at dusk to cause mayhem through the night. 

Plains Viscacha - Parque Nacional El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Laura and I enjoyed a relaxed morning at our nearby hotel, then drove through a heavy downpour which, thankfully, cleared as we pulled up to the park gates for the 9 AM opening hour. The morning's rain had caused the birds to also have a bit of a sleep-in, and activity was high upon our arrival. 

Swainson's Hawk - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

I only had a few bird targets at El Palmar, all of which we would have good chances at later in Uruguay and Brazil. Glaucous-blue Grosbeak was the main one, though Blue-billed Black-Tyrant and Chestnut-backed Tanager were potential lifers that had occasionally been reported at El Palmar. 

Within our first hour in the park we had already connected with both species of foxes. They are clearly used to frequent vehicular and pedestrian traffic here since they did not seem bothered by our presence at all. 

Pampas Fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

We took a few hours in the morning to bird along the gravel road leading to Mirador Los Loros. Several hundred Eared Doves provided quite the distraction; they were constantly seen flying past, or moving in the shrubbery, making it difficult to spot any other birds! 

Eared Dove - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

We slowly picked out other species, though. Swainson's, Harris's, and Roadside Hawks were all accounted for, a family group of Diademed Tanagers called frequently as they perched up on the roadside trees, and we tallied both Black-capped and Gray-throated Warbling Finches. 

Diademed Tanager - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

We carefully scrutinized a skulky Ultramarine Grosbeak to make sure that it wasn't our target, the Glaucous-blue. 

Ultramarine Grosbeak - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

The mirador provided an excellent vantage point to scan for wildlife, and this technique paid off with our first Chital that Laura spotted far down the hillside. Also known as the Spotted Deer, the Chital is native to the Indian subcontinent but substantial introduced populations occur in Texas, Australia, and northeastern Argentina/Uruguay. 

Chital (Axis axis) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

I thought that a nearby wetland in the palm savannah had high potential for the Glaucous-blue Grosbeak. A brief bit of playback produced an immediate response! I called Laura over and we were soon both watching our lifer Glaucous-blue Grosbeak. 

Glaucous-blue Grosbeak - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

It was easy to appreciate the differences between the Glaucous-blue and the Ultramarine as we had just observed one of the latter. The Glaucous-blue also had a very distinctive call. 

Glaucous-blue Grosbeak - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Glaucous-blue Grosbeaks have a very limited range in Argentina but they are more widespread in Uruguay and southern Brazil. 

Glaucous-blue Grosbeak - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Laura and I explored several other areas on foot, eventually retiring to the campground for a nap in the car by mid-afternoon. Our first Bicolored Hawk for Argentina, an adult, was a nice surprise at the campground. 

Bicolored Hawk - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Feeling rejuvenated, Laura and I waited for dusk to fall so that the real adventure could begin: spot-lighting for Geoffroy's Cats. But the Plains Viscacha provided a worthy distraction as several eager individuals emerged from their tunnels long before the sky darkened.

Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Plains Viscachas live in female-controlled social groups that rely on a warren of tunnels and burrows. They spend the night foraging on grasses and forbs, returning to the tunnel system by dawn. They will drag large branches over the entrances of the tunnels, creating a barrier of sorts for potential predators. A rather large colony of Plains Viscachas live in the campground at PN El Palmar and they create quite the entertainment for the campers. 

Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Unfortunately, we found out the hard way that Parque Nacional El Palmar is trying to discourage wildlife observation, at least during the best hours. All of the side-roads that branch off the main park road are closed a couple of hours before dusk, and do not open again until the mid-morning hours. Spot-lighting is forbidden, and rangers patrol the park roads at night to make sure that nobody is out searching for cats or other nocturnal wildlife. This was really frustrating for us since El Palmar has long been known as a premier mammal-watching destination in Argentina. Surely the potential impact caused by an occasional biologist or wildlife photographer is rather minimal, since this is still a rather niche hobby. 

Ortilia velica - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

But alas, we were not able to spend our only evening at El Palmar doing what we hoped. Instead, we went for a brief night-walk, turning up some of the same mammal species as earlier in the day as well as a few other odds and ends. Then we walked back to the campground to watch the Plains Viscachas for a little while before calling it a night. 

Hensel's Dwarf Frog (Physalaemus henselii) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Banded Sphinx (Eumorpha fasciatus) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Laura and I came up with a new plan. We would wake very early (around 3 AM) to give us a chance to cruise the park roads before dawn when cat activity might be high. We hoped that at that early hour, there wouldn't be any rangers patrolling. We fell asleep to the sounds of a Great Horned Owl hooting, and the unusual calls of the Plains Viscachas from all around us.

Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Our plan worked pretty well (other than feeling rather groggy from the scant few hours of sleep) and we enjoyed a peaceful pre-dawn road-cruising session. Unfortunately, we struck out with cats, but that wasn't much of a surprise given the limited amount of time we were able to search for them. We found quite a few foxes of both species, Brown Brocket Deer and, of course, hundreds of Capybara. The main highlight were perhaps the Scissor-tailed Nightjars, of which we counted at least seven on the roads.  

PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

We watched the sun rise at the El Palmar river and listened to the dawn chorus as it crescendoed and then quieted. Eventually, we settled in the car for a quick nap, only to be awakened by a park ranger who informed us that we needed to leave as this portion of the park was closed for the night (even though it was now well after sunrise). We followed the park vehicle back to main road, stopping for a very recently road-killed worm lizard (likely run over by the park truck in front of us). 

Silver-lined Worm Lizard (Ophiodes intermedius) - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Of course, by the time that we had reached the main park road, the "road closed" sign had been removed and the side-roads in the park were open for another day. Frustrating, but heaven forbid that someone visits a national park and searches for wildlife. 

Asclepias mellodora - PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

We often have conflicting feelings about national parks. On one hand, without national parks, these large chunks of habitat would not be protected (and protecting these areas, even if it means restricting access, should be more important than the selfish desires of a naturalist). We also realize that there needs to be rules and enforcement in place when members of the public are visiting potentially sensitive habitats. But on the other hand, it is rather frustrating when the park administration makes it very difficult to actually search for wildlife. Laura and I also saw cattle grazing in the park, which we thought was at odds with a conservation mindset, and annoyed us as it demonstrated that the park's priorities may not be entirely reasonable when it comes to conservation.

PN El Palmar, Entre Ríos, Argentina

Laura and I were happy to leave El Palmar behind after another negative experience in a national park. Give us a quiet dirt road without any administration, any day....