Earlier this month I was informed of the passing of one of Ottawa’s original dragon-hunters, Christina Lewis. She was not only a mentor to me and Chris Traynor in all things odonate, she was a dear friend and a lovely person – humble, self-effacing, with a quiet sense of humor and deep love of nature.
Chris and her late partner Bob Bracken developed an interest in odes in the 1990s and were tutored by Raymond Hutchinson, Benoit Menard, Paul Catling, Colin Jones and Michael Runtz. They pored over EM Walker’s old publications, corresponded with Colin Jones, and spent time in the field with Raymond Hutchinson and Benoit Menard on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, Paul Catling on the Ontario side, and Michael Runtz in Renfrew County where he lived at the time. These men were the most instrumental in helping Chris and Bob learn how to look at odes, where to go to find them, and encouraging them to document their records. In 1998 she and Bob produced the official checklist of odonates in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, which has been updated several times since then. They wrote many articles for the Ottawa Field Naturalists (and not just about odonates), but their joy came from visiting a variety of habitats just to see what was around, sometimes looking for specific species, often submitting their observations to Ontario Odonata.
In July 2005 she and Bob participated at the Dragonfly Society of the Americas meeting in Arnprior, Ontario in which she had (and I quote) her “best day EVER” for the highest number of species. On July 10th, half the group of 60 attendees (including Bob & Chris) found a total of 60 species! Locations included a sand pit near Arnprior, the Fitzroy ferry dock & nearby shoreline, the Mississippi River at the 5-span bridge in Pakenham, Waba Creek in Renfrew County, and another sandpit near Lowney Lake, also in Renfrew County. She provided me with these details in one of our email discussions about how many odonate species it was possible to see in one day – she calculated that in late June to early or mid-July, a full day’s dragon-hunting in “targeted” areas within the OFNC study circle (but without a crazy amount of travelling), could average around 30 species.
That same email communication included three other days she considered outstanding days: June 26, 2005 (33 spp in the Blakeney, Pakenham & Morris Island areas); July 2, 2005 (38 spp. at the Sugarbush Trail in Gatineau Park and at the Britannia Conservation Area); and July 3, 2005 (40 spp. at the Breckenridge area along Ottawa River, Luskville, Ramsay Lake & stream, and Quyon & Fitzroy ferry areas).
I met Chris via email correspondence through a mutual friend sometime in the late summer or fall of 2008 when I photographed one of my first dragonflies (a Spot-winged Glider) and needed help identifying it. We developed a casual correspondence online; then, the following summer, she invited me to go dragon-hunting with her, Bob, and another friend. We clicked right away, and from then on she took me under wing, inviting me out with her and Bob or sometimes just her alone. She showed me many of Ottawa’s best places to search for dragonflies, how to catch and handle dragonflies and the smaller damselflies, and answered all my questions about the early days of dragon-hunting so I (and later Chris Traynor) could follow in her footsteps.
We continued to go out dragon-hunting together after Bob’s untimely death in 2013, although her interest in odes waned for a while. She regained some of her interest when Chris Traynor started joining us on outings to Petrie Island and Gatineau Park; we had some memorable days and memorable dragons on those outings!
My last outing with Chris was in late summer 2023, a visit to our old haunt Bruce Pit, though of course I didn’t know it was our last outing at the time. Her health had declined these last two or three years, and she was not able to get out as much as she wanted. Although she did not feel well enough to accompany me on any outings in 2024, we still chatted frequently over email about her old records and places she had visited and my dreams of updating some of her checklists. By late March 2025 she was gone.
I truly appreciated my time with her and each and every message I received from her. I miss her dearly, and will treasure her cheerful emails with their wealth of information tremendously as I can still hear her voice when I read them. Her writings will ensure that she will never be truly gone.
Rest in peace, Chris. Dragonfly season has not yet started here in Ottawa, but when I see the first flash of sunlight on the wings of a dragonfly in flight I will know it’s you saying “hi”.
OdoNotations 