Marlborough Forest is one of my favourite spots for ode-hunting. There are so many terrific species there, including some considered scarce, rare, or even very rare according to the official Ottawa checklist. So far I’ve found three lifers here – two of which I have not seen again in the forest or anywhere else: Ocellated Emerald on June 21, 2020, and Ashy Clubtail on June 19, 2022. The third species, Kennedy’s Emerald, was a lifer for me in Marlborough Forest on June 12, 2021 in Marlborough Forest and then, oddly enough, turned up on a house in Nepean on May 21, 2023. The sheer size of the forest – over 9,300 hectares of meadows, wetlands, old plantations and natural forests – tantalized me with the mysteries hidden within its depths, whether those be bog-loving Somatochlora emeralds, remnants of old farmsteads, or rumours of long-lost graveyards.
While Marlborough Forest is usually one of the first places I start dragon-hunting each year in May, this year I didn’t make it there until June 21st…prime time to turn up some rarities. I started my day at a new spot along Kettles Road. I had been birding here before when a rare Yellow-billed Cuckoo turned up one spring (missed it) and was intrigued by the stream that runs under the road. There are two trails at the eastern end of Kettles, one heading directly south which I had walked before, and the other heading east which I had not. I was hoping the eastern trail would allow me to get closer to the Richmond fen and any Somatochlora emeralds, but first I stopped at the bridge to scan the stream for odes.
There were only three species there including the common Ebony Jewelwing and Racket-tailed Emerald, but the third was entirely new for Marlborough Forest: a River Jewelwing! It was a female, and I grabbed a few distant shots before heading down the trail. It marched along the edge of a wetland for a while; the water must have been high, for it spilled onto the edge of the trail. Unfortunately I only managed to walk 0.4 km before the trail disappeared underwater and became a wall of cattails, but in that time I added Sedge Sprite, Four-spotted Skimmer, and Dot-tailed Whiteface to the day’s list.
From there I headed to Roger Stevens Drive and Trail E4 to check out the stream there and the site of two of my lifers: the long-ago Ocellated Emerald and Ashy Clubtail. Listening the stream gurgling beneath the culvert was soothing, and I spent some time watching the dragons and damsels in the area. I added Common Whitetail and Frosted Whiteface to the day’s list, and was thrilled when I spotted two more River Jewelwings on the marshy side of the trail – a male and a female! They were much closer, so I was able to get some better photos.
I spotted a spiketail flying up and down the stream, but when I tried to get to the bank in the woods where I had seen the Twin-spotted Spiketail hang up once upon a time, the way was blocked by fallen trees. I waited for a while to see if it would land in one of the shrubs along the trail for a while, but when it didn’t I continued on my way. I still hadn’t seen an Aurora Damsel yet, and I was hoping to find one here before I headed over to the Cedar Grove Nature Trail next. It didn’t take too long before I finally found a male sunning itself on a leaf.
I turned around after that, not wanting to spend too much time at the trail as I wanted to see what was flying at Roger’s Pond. I returned to the culvert to make one final attempt to photograph the spiketail so I could confirm it as the Twin-spotted Spiketail and add it to iNaturalist; I ended up talking with a couple there for a short time, during which I noticed the spiketail finally land on a tree branch hanging above the stream. To my utter surprise it was not the Twin-spotted Spiketail, but rather an Arrowhead Spiketail! I made my way down to the water, descending the steep bank with caution until I had a clear view of the spiketail. I got some great photos of it, and while I don’t know what happened to the Twin-spotted Spiketail – or even if the two species could coexist at the same stream – I was thrilled to add this species to the list of odes in Marlborough Forest.
I didn’t think I could find anything at Roger’s Pond to top the River Jewelwing and Arrowhead Spiketail. Still, I had fun exploring the trail and walked all the way to the back of the trail where the wooden bridge went over the stream. The usual suspects were present, including this mature Frosted Whiteface…
…a female Common Whitetail resting on a fern….
…and a male Horned Clubtail resting on a branch below the dam.
The water at the pond was lower than usual. This was the first time I had visited the pond where no water was rushing over the dam below the metal bridge; I was able to descend the bank and walk right up to the base of the dam. Normally this is a great spot to see clubtails and skimmers resting on the branches above the running water and frogs in the pool of water below, but the pools had mostly dried up.
I noticed this low water level when I checked out the stream at the back, too. The stream was still running, but it was a mere trickle. There were no Ebony Jewelwings here, no spiketails, and the water was so low I could follow the stream all the way to where it entered the pond…..or where it would have entered the pond if it hadn’t been blocked. Instead, it formed a large pool of water with nowhere to go.
I turned around and headed back the way I had come. There were no Ebony Boghaunters flying, nor any Harlequin Darners. I did see a Common Green Darner and two Canada Darners which landed on tree trunks low enough for me to photograph. Once I reached the open meadow again I stopped to look for the emeralds flying about; I found one Racket-tailed Emerald and one Brush-tipped Emerald, which I caught.
The Racket-tailed Emerald posed nicely for me on a broad leaf.
Interestingly, I found an American Emerald along the trail when it flew in and landed on a stem close to the ground. I was too slow to get my camera out, and it flew off before I could photograph it for iNaturalist. As far as I know, this is my latest date for that species yet. I did not see any baskettails, and the only damselfly I identified was an Aurora Damsel.
Still, it was an amazing day with the discovery of the River Jewelwings and Arrowhead Spiketail, proving once again that there is more to Marlborough Forest than meets the eye!
OdoNotations 