In addition to the Somatochlora emeralds, I saw some other interesting dragonflies at Jack Pine Trail over the past few weeks. The first species was a large dragonfly called the Arrowhead Spiketail. I’ve seen this species many times over the years along the stream at the back of the trail, usually between the first and third weeks of June. Normally I only see them on one or two visits, making me wonder how long their flight season actually is – while the Ottawa Checklist says they fly from early June to early July, I don’t think I’ve actually seen any beyond the third week of June. While the range of dates surely applies to all populations within the Ottawa region, I was certain that individuals lived longer than a single week, and checked the stream each time on my visits to see how many spiketails I could find.
I found my first Arrowhead Spiketail of the season on June 16th when I saw I saw two flying up and down the stream in the woods. On my visit of June 28th there were still at least two present, and one landed in the vegetation overhanging the water where I got a nice photo.
Chris and I found another Arrowhead Spiketail at the culvert along the main trail on June 29th. Its abdomen was bent at the tip, so I was not sure if it was another individual or not. On my next visit, July 4th, I saw one Arrowhead Spiketail along the stream at the fourth loop, and its abdomen was straight – so clearly a number of spiketails were flying here! I was also happy to extend my personal late date into July. The latest date I am aware of for the Ottawa-Gatineau region is August 17th, set in 2015 when Chris Traynor photographed one at the P6 parking lot on Old Richmond Road, also in Stony Swamp! Although I searched the stream on subsequent visits, this would be my last Arrowhead of the season.
One other dragonfly of interest seen frequently during my visits there is the Calico Pennant. I had never seen one at Jack Pine Trail until June 29th, when I found one in the alvar. I saw one again on June 30th and then another (or the same one) on July 18th. I never saw any males with red markings along the abdomen, just adult females with yellow markings and red wing spots. By the time I saw on the 18th it was missing a portion of the right forewing, shown in the photo at the top of the page.
White-faced Meadowhawks have emerged, and I saw one at Jack Pine Trail that I thought made for a nice photo. They are just starting to emerge at this time, and will become quite numerous over the next month and into early September.
On July 16th I saw a large dragonfly zooming around a dark spot beneath the tree canopy on an overcast day; the bright yellow line on its thorax was the only discernible field mark, and with the Swift River Cruiser from Sheila McKee still fresh in my mind I thought it might be a cruiser of some sort. Then it landed and I realized it was a Shadow Darner, my first one of the year.
Of course, Canada Darners were out in numbers and I caught one or two on most of my visits.
July can be a relatively quiet time of year, but even in the heat there is always something interesting to see!
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