Back in March my partner and I bought a trailer in Nova Scotia. We don’t have any property yet so it is currently parked next to a relative’s house. This will give us a place to stay when we go back instead of spending money on an Airbnb – though we have stayed in some nice ones over the years! This also means I could buy a second dragonfly net and leave it there for those occasions when we fly instead of drive.
We took a vacation during the first week of June so I could see it for the first time. It’s amazing – 40 feet long, with an actual bedroom, living area, kitchen area, and dining area and even an electric fireplace! Although it is 12 years old, it has been immaculately maintained with new furniture and a new furnace. We spent the first two days furnishing it and getting to know how it works – the weather was lousy (cold, overcast and blustery) so I wasn’t interested in spending much time outdoors anyway.
The sun came out on Tuesday and we spent the morning birding. Our first stop was a new place in Greenwich (about halfway between New Minas and Wolfville) called Noggins Corner Farm which has a public trail cutting through woodland, over a small brook, and along the edge of the farm. Here I finally added Chipping Sparrow to my Nova Scotia life list (that omission has been bothering me for years!) and saw a few warblers, notably Black-throated Green, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, and American Redstart. From there we drove west to Miner’s Marsh where I only found three Eastern Forktails, but added Baltimore Oriole to my Nova Scotia list and saw a male Ring-necked Pheasant out in the open. Finally we drove to Black Rock Lighthouse on the Bay of Fundy where I saw my first male Common Eider in breeding plumage! It was too far off to get any decent photos, but it was beautiful. I also saw two Black Guillemots, an unidentified female merganser, and what looked like an unidentified scoter and loon. I really missed having a spotting scope.
On Wednesday we checked out McMaster Falls (aka Rocknotch Falls) for birds and dragonflies. I was hoping to find some creek-loving odes, such as Eastern Least Clubtails, Harpoon Clubtails, or Mustached Clubtails, but there was more cloud than clear sky overhead and I saw no odes perching on the rocks or vegetation. However, a few dark dragonflies were flying over the river above the falls, none of which came anywhere close to my net.
Doran said there was another trail on the opposite side of the creek, so we drove down Rocknotch Road, crossed the bridge on Harmony Road, and parked in a wide spot at the side of the road. The trail hugged the side of a slope with the river well below us. It was perilous in a couple of spots where erosion had worn the trail away and where fallen tree limbs partially blocked the path. I heard a couple of Ovenbirds and a Northern Parula, but the best bird there was a Black-and-white Warbler that flew down to the ground to sip some water running down the hill.
Eventually the trail descended the slope and came out onto an opening at the water where we could sit and rest on the rocks. I scanned the water and saw more dragonflies patrolling the shoreline; once again I found none perching. They came quite close to where we were standing, so I tried to net one. It didn’t take long before I caught one and pulled a Uhler’s Sundragon out of my net. This was the first time I was able to use my net, and I was happy with my success.
The Uhler’s Sundragon had been a lifer for me last year at Crystal Falls, which was part of the same river system. I was happy to see that they were relatively common here, as I’ve never seen them in Ottawa – the only place they’d been reported is at the Quyon ferry dock near Morris Island.
The unexpected hospitalization of one of Doran’s family members later that day meant we had to spend some time at their house dog-sitting, but since they live in the country I was still able to enjoy some nature, going for walks on the property and down a nearby dirt road that led to a small lake. Watching the feeders kept me occupied most of the time there; we received visits from Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, a Song Sparrow, and even a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak! The most interesting visitor was an adult Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the hummingbird feeder.
My walk to the lake the next day was the highlight of the visit. At first I didn’t see any dragonflies; then I came across a bluet, followed by a second one perching in the ditch. I caught one, peered at it through my loupe, but couldn’t tell what it was…the shape of the claspers didn’t match any of the species that I knew. My best guess is that it is one of the Northern/Vernal/Boreal Bluet complex, three species with extremely similar claspers.
A little later I saw a baskettail patrolling the intersection where a driveway met the road. I caught it and identified it as a female Spiny Baskettail.
As I walked along I noticed water in the ditch, deposited there by a little rivulet running down from the woods. It looked like a great place to see some damselflies, perhaps jewelwings, but all I saw were bluets. I caught a couple but remained baffled by their identity. I also saw some Chalk-fronted Corporals and something bright enough to be a Four-spotted Skimmer, but nothing unusual.
Canadian Tiger Swallowtails danced along the road, but none of them would land. A Dreamy Duskywing and Mustard White were the only butterflies that posed for me.
A little later I came across a track leading into the woods on the right. I thought it might lead to the lake I had visited once a long time ago, and followed it. There were no small openings in the woods that I remembered from my previous visit so long ago, and someone had cleared a huge opening about halfway to the lake. I found some running water but found no stream species in the area.
Eventually I came to the small clearing with the shack that looked out onto the lake. Despite the years it looked no better and no worse than it had when I first saw it. It still had no doors, so it wasn’t a place people came to camp in. There were several dragonflies circling the clearing and I quickly caught one flying at about knee-height – it was a Beaverpond Baskettail, a species I still needed for my Nova Scotia list!
A little later I found one with beautiful green eyes perching.
I made my way to the water where there was plenty of activity in the little bit of open water in front of me. There were several Chalk-fronted Corporals skimming the surface, a mature Dot-tailed Whiteface resting on a lily pad, and more emeralds flying a few feet above the pond. It was great so see so many dragonflies in one area, and I spent some time watching them.
Then something large with bright spots started patrolling the bit of open water in front of me. At first I thought it was a darner, but then I became convinced it was a spiketail, though they prefer patrolling streams rather than lake shores. Still, with a small island directly across from me forming a channel, I thought the habitat might be appealing to a spiketails with no other option. I waited for several minutes, but it preferred flying over the water without returning to the land. I made my way down the bank and tried to get closer to the water – a feat I managed with some difficulty as the shore was lined with mossy hummocks and small, leafless shrubs. To my dismay I found my feet sinking into the water, but it was worth it when I caught the dragonfly. I retreated to dry land, pulled it out of my net, and found a Harlequin Darner!
This was still a great find, as I had seen one on my trip last June but hadn’t managed to catch or photograph it. I was thrilled to finally add it to my list on iNaturalist, and with that exciting discovery I left the lake.
On my way back through the woods I noticed a dark dragonfly zipping up and down the trail. It didn’t look large enough to be one of the large Somatochlora emeralds, so I was hoping it was another Nova Scotia specialty, the Petite Emerald. It turned out to be a Racket-tailed Emerald, which was another new species for my Nova Scotia list.
The following day we had someone else take care of the dog while Doran and I looked at a couple of properties for sale. Both were on lakes, and while we didn’t see anything we wanted to buy, I did find a few a few clubtails and skimmers while checking the properties and lake access. The first was my first confirmed Dusky Clubtail of Nova Scotia:
Lancet Clubtails seem to be much more common here, and I saw one of those as well.
That was the last day I spent any time out in nature; the rest of our visit was spent helping Doran’s family member during their stay at the hospital in Kentville. Still, I was happy to see the trailer and try out my new net. It was great seeing the sundragons again, catching a Harlequin Darner for the first time in Nova Scotia, and finding my first Beaverpond Baskettail and Racket-tailed Emerald for the province. Although the weather wasn’t as nice as it could have been, we’ll definitely have to return later in the summer when we can spend more than one week there.
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