Earlier this year I spent some time exploring the creeks of Kanata in an attempt to find some of the creek-loving odonates that inhabit Gatineau Park on this side of the Ottawa River. While I was happy to find new places for damselflies such as Aurora Damsel, Ebony Jewelwing and River Jewelwing, I wasn’t able to find any creek-loving clubtails, darners or spiketails. One place that intrigued me was Brassils Creek in Marlborough Forest. It meanders through a large portion of the forest, though it is wide and marshy in most places where the trails cross it, with a slow-moving current similar to the Jock River. Google maps shows that this creek passes beneath Flood Road just off of Upper Dwyer Hill Road, and on July 12th I spent an hour exploring the area to assess its potential for odes.
Water levels were low that day, and I could easily splash about the creek in my boots. There weren’t too many dragonflies on the north side of the bridge; I found a few Twelve-spotted Skimmers, a Dot-tailed Whiteface and a Common Whitetail.
I was surprised not to see any damselflies here at all – not even any forktails – and with only a couple of skimmers present I crossed the road and made my way to the water on other side of the bridge. The trees cast a large portion of the south side in shade, with sunlight hitting only one side of the creek.
Here I finally found a couple of damselflies – both Ebony and River Jewelwings! This female Ebony Jewelwing was perching close to where I stood on the bank.
This River Jewelwing, a male, was perching closer to the bridge.
It looked like Brassils Creek widened into a small marsh further downstream, but the bottom of the creek bed was so uneven that I decided to turn back. I was pleased with this first visit; it was a lovely spot and I decided that I needed to visit at other times of the ode season to see what other species I could find.
My next visit occurred on September 14th. The only dragonflies on the north side this time were Autumn Meadowhawks, and I still didn’t see any damselflies. The water was even lower on this visit due to the prolonged drought; I could easily walk beneath the bridge in my boots to get to the other side without going up to the road.
The shady side of the bridge was more interesting as a couple of darners were flying up and down the bank along the edge of the creek. One was the patterned blue colour of a mosaic darner…but the other was the light brown of a spotted darner. I spent several minutes positioning myself on the bank to try to catch it. The third time it flew by me I caught it in my net and was happy to find a Fawn Darner buzzing frantically inside.
Unlike the Ocellated Darner in Nova Scotia, this darner had noticeable dark brown spots at the bases of its wings, and its eyes were dark green.
Although the official checklist of dragonflies of Ottawa says that this species is found on both sides of the Ottawa River (i.e. Quebec and Ottawa) I had never seen one on the Ontario side – until now. While they have been found in Larose Forest and in Stittsville and Kanata along the Carp River according to iNaturalist, I have not yet attempted to find them in those areas. It was much more satisfying to review Google Maps for potential habitat, go exploring and find my own!
My last visit occurred a week later when I brought Chris Traynor to the Flood Road bridge after an outing at Roger’s Pond. He thought that the creek looked just as enticing as I did, but at first all we saw were Autumn Meadowhawks, the most abundant dragonfly species after mid-September. We waded out past the beaver dam at the north end of the creek, then spent some time around the bridge where we noticed a couple of darners flying up and down the stream, passing underneath the bridge as they flew. I had high hopes for catching another Fawn Darner, but the only darner I managed to catch was a Shadow Darner – only my second one ever for Marlborough Forest, after finding my first at Heaphy Road last week.
We returned to the north side of the bridge where I noticed a much bluer darner zipping over the beaver dam and beyond. I started making my way toward the dam to try to catch it, but fortunately for me it decided to land instead, hanging up in a shrub where I was able to photograph it. This one turned out to be a Lake Darner, a dragonfly fairly common at Roger’s Pond nearby. While their name suggests that they only inhabit lakes, they can be found at large ponds, bogs, and slow streams as well, particularly those with marshy or sedge-bordered shorelines in coniferous forests.
It was a fine dragonfly to wrap up the day’s adventures with, as well as my 2025 exploration of Brassils Creek at Flood Road. Altogether I ended up with nine species at this location on my three visits:
- River Jewelwing
- Ebony Jewelwing
- Lake Darner
- Shadow Darner
- Fawn Darner
- Common Whitetail
- Twelve-spotted Skimmer
- Dot-tailed Whiteface
- Autumn Meadowhawk
I can’t wait to go back in the late spring, and hopefully find some emeralds and clubtails inhabiting this section of Marlborough Forest!
OdoNotations 