I usually see my first dragonfly of the year in April, which is not surprising given that the first dragonflies migrate here from further south during the first prolonged warm spell of the month. They are always Common Green Darners, heading north to find new ponds and lakes in which to breed. It isn’t until later in May, usually the second week when temperatures are consistently in the 15-20°C range, that the local species emerge, chiefly skimmers and emeralds and, of course, damselflies. However, this season it didn’t warm up to 20°C until the very end of the month of April. It was still warm by the time the first weekend of May arrived, and on May 4th I finally saw my first Common Green Darners at a small pond in Stony Swamp – three males, it appeared.
After that it became a waiting game for the weather to stay warm enough to allow our resident overwintering species to emerge. I saw my first damselflies of the year at Bruce Pit on May 10th while birding; I thought I imagined the first teneral lifting off from the vegetation near the bridge, but when I saw a second I found a way down to the water and managed one photograph of a newly emerged damselfly.
That same day Chris Traynor reported a large emergence of emeralds at Roger’s Pond, so I made point of going out whenever possible during the week to see if I could find some, too. I found nothing on a sunny, warm, but breezy lunch hour at Terry Carisse on May 12, nor any on an overcast day at Bruce Pit on May 13. However, when I checked the Eagleson Ponds after work on the 13th I found my first confirmed Eastern Forktail of the year perching in the vegetation!
Then, when I returned to Bruce Pit on May 16 I saw my first baskettail of the season flying over a watery spot at the back of the trail – my first local dragonfly of the year! I had brought my net with me as one of my goals this year is to find and identify some emeralds at Bruce Pit, but when I swung my net I missed and it flew away. I also observed a male Eastern Forktail perching in the vegetation above the water near the toboggan hill, making it my first two-species day…though I am not sure of the identity of the baskettail!
It was overcast but just above 20°C on Saturday, May 17th. I didn’t think I’d be able do any ode-hunting at all, but when the sun started breaking through the clouds that afternoon I rushed over to Sarsaparilla Trail to see if I could find any mass emergences of Chalk-fronted Corporals or Spiny Baskettails. I found my first corporal on the ground near the entrance to the woods; it was teneral with shiny wings, indicating it had only just emerged.
The next place I checked was the clearing in the woods that had formed when several large pines came down during one of the windstorms a few years ago. I’d had Chalk-fronted Corporals along the ground on a windy day last year, and sure enough, I scared up a few more here. From there I went to the boardwalk, where I found another couple of Chalk-fronted Corporals, a bluet – perhaps a Familiar Bluet – in the vegetation above the water, and two fresh Dot-tailed Whitefaces perching in the dead reeds beyond the boardwalk!
I scanned the vegetation at the water’s edge, and that’s when I started noticing several dragonflies dangling from the reeds and plants above the water. They were all out over the open pond rather than the inlet, and as I watched a few broke free and flew up toward land. I saw a few exuviae in the reeds as well….and then the more I looked, the more exuviae and teneral dragonflies I found! I only got a good look at the claspers of one male, but it was a Spiny Baskettail, the most common species here. More and more flew up out of the reeds and into the sky as I watched; there definitely was a mass emergence underway!
I was thrilled that the beginning of dragonfly season had arrived. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. The following week was cool and overcast with intermittent rain showers and gusts of wind. It didn’t get above 15°C all week, and I saw no odes whatsoever while out birding Marlborough Forest the following Saturday. Apparently the culprit behind this was a system of low pressure stalled over Ontario, which causes cold air flowing down from the Arctic to spin around without respite. It looks like next week will start getting back to normal again. I can only hope most of the dragonflies are still waiting to emerge, and we will be back on schedule next weekend!
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