By October I’m thinking about putting the net away for the season. If it is still warm at the beginning of the month, I will usually take the net out as long as I’m still seeing darners and small bluets around. Once I’m seeing nothing but meadowhawks, however, it’s time for me to declare an end to the season and put my gear away until the spring. This year the first week of October was very warm, with temperatures reaching 30°C; they then returned to seasonal for the next week with temperatures in the mid-teens. By the end of the month temperatures were in the single digits during the day and falling to below zero overnight, bringing an end to all but the hardiest of dragonflies. That title belongs to the meadowhawks, in particular the Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum). It is no coincidence that it is the latest-flying dragonfly in many areas of the northeast….sometimes by several weeks. Once called the Yellow-legged Meadowhawk, it was renamed in 2004 by the Dragonfly Society of the Americas because mature individuals often have brown legs instead of yellow and because it persists so long into the fall. It is the only dragonfly in our area with entirely brown or yellow legs (never black), making identification relatively easy. And it is the only species you are likely to see in Ottawa in November!
Overall I had 20 observations of 8 species in October, a steep drop-off from the 74 observations of 22 species I had in September. As defined previously, an “observation” means a species photographed at one particular trail or conservation area on one day – it does not refer to the total number of individuals seen, but rather the number of locations at which they were seen regardless of date. For example, I might photograph one Common Green Darner at Andrew Haydon Park and another at Shirley’s Bay the same day; these count as two observations, even though there may have been large swarms at each place. A whopping 75% of all observations belonged to three species of meadowhawk: Autumn, White-faced and Band-winged, accounting for 15 observations out of the 20. The remaining observations were single observations of five different species.
Here is a summary of the species seen, the number of observations, and the last date they were seen:
| Species | Observations | Last Date |
| Tule Bluet | 1 | October 2, 2023 |
| Northern Spreadwing | 1 | October 2, 2023 |
| Familiar Bluet | 1 | October 2, 2023 |
| Shadow Darner | 1 | October 4, 2023 |
| Eastern Forktail | 1 | October 4, 2023 |
| Band-winged Meadowhawk | 3 | October 4, 2023 |
| White-faced Meadowhawk | 5 | October 6, 2023 |
| Autumn Meadowhawk | 7 | October 23, 2023 |
These dates reflect the unseasonably warm weather at the beginning of the month – after October 7th, the day-time highs and night-time lows returned to normal, with the lows typically ranging between 2°C and 5°C for much of the month up to October 29th. I had a great time on October 1st, finding all three meadowhawks at the parking lot at Lime Kiln Trail, and Autumn and White-faced Meadowhawks at Terry Carisse. I stopped in at the new pond at the corner of West Hunt Club and Moodie Drive and found only a White-faced Meadowhawk, which means three observations of that species are all from the same day.
On October 2nd, I found a Band-winged Meadowhawk at the Eagleson ponds along with a Wild Indigo Duskywing butterfly. From there I went to Bruce Pit and spent some time on the shore in the southwest corner. Activity was low, but I saw two White-faced Meadowhawks, at least three Familiar Bluets and one Tule Bluet. This is the first one I’ve seen at Bruce Pit, at least that I’ve recorded! A spreadwing flying in the reeds turned to be a Northern Spreadwing, rather than the Spotted Spreadwing I expected. I caught it to confirm its identity, as the Sweetflag Spreadwing looks very similar. Oddly, I never did see a Spotted Spreadwing that month, though I looked for them at Bruce Pit and elsewhere. It turns out that September 30th was my last date in 2023 for that species.
I saw my last damselfly of the year at Andrew Haydon Park on October 4th, a single female Eastern Forktail. It was a good outing – my last good dragonfly outing of the year – with a handful of Autumn Meadowhawks, a Band-winged Meadowhawk, and two Shadow Darners (both caught) patrolling the edges of the ponds and streams. It was especially nice to spend that time with my mentor Chris Lewis, catching those Shadow Darners and showing them to her to admire.
As the temperature dropped, so did my interest in dragonfly-hunting. I was still keen to record the last flight dates of any species still flying, but birding was beginning to occupy a larger space in my brain, and the dwindling number of odes made it easier to concentrate on the large number of birds still migrating through Ottawa. I saw my last White-faced Meadowhawk of the year at the Eagleson Ponds on October 6th and my last Autumn Meadowhawk of the month on October 23rd at Sarsaparilla Trail.
The early October warmth resulted in later flight seasons for four species: Northern Spreadwing and Band-winged Meadowhawk, both of which are listed as flying until mid-September; and Shadow Darner and White-faced Meadowhawk, both of which are listed as flying until late September. As with the Fragile Forktail and other species found flying later in September than noted in the official Ottawa checklist, these extensions are likely new knowledge gained for which we previously lacked data. However, at this point in the season, when the average seasonal temperature is well below room temperature, it’s not entirely possible to rule out the changing climate, particularly given the string of days in the upper 20s and lower 30s.
I only submitted one November record, on November 4th, for three Autumn Meadowhawks at Bruce Pit. It was a sunny day, about 10°C, though breezy, following a relatively warm night of 4°C. That was the last night with temperatures above zero, and the last weekend of sun and warmth. I thought I might find some lingering dragonflies on the sheltered, sunny south-facing slope of the toboggan hill, but ended up finding them in the open area near the bridge. I checked both spots again the following weekend, but an unsettled week of cooler temperatures, rain, and wind, as well as a couple of nights below zero, made my search entirely fruitless. Our record late date for Autumn Meadowhawk in Ottawa is November 18th, and although each year I hope to surpass that I never do….usually because of either the weather or my schedule refusing to cooperate.
So once again it’s time to put away the net for the season and cease fretting about late species and late flight dates. It’s nice to have the break, though I do wish it was much shorter. May is such a long ways off that I can’t help but envy those people who live much closer to the tropics with a much longer dragonfly season!
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