Gillian

The 2025 Odolympics

I was quite happy when I learned that this year’s North American Odolympics were to take place in mid-August this year. This would be my third year participating; the 2023 Odolympics ran from August 19-27 while the 2024 Odolympics ran from September 7-15, so I was worried that this year’s bioblitz would be held in October! However, with a start date of August 16th (and running till August 24th) it would be my earliest bioblitz yet!

Unfortunately there was one problem with that date: I would be driving to Nova Scotia with my partner and three cats during the entire first weekend! Then came the second blow: while I was excited to participate in my first Nova Scotia Odolympics, a forest fire was burning out of control in Annapolis County (not too far from where our trailer is located); the fire risk was extremely high all throughout the province due to the prolonged drought conditions; and the government had closed the woods to recreational activities, including trails in provincial and national parks. The reason for the closure was to prevent additional human-caused forest fires, which meant hiking, camping, fishing, and driving recreational vehicles on both Crown and private property were all prohibited. This decision was based on the amount of dry, flammable material present which could easily start a fire, and the fine for violating the ban was $25,000. Immediately my dreams of looking for odes along forest creeks – which were already terribly low from a lack of summer rainfall – were dashed, and even places like Miner’s Marsh were out of the question as the marsh had entirely dried up, leaving the dry, cracked muddy bottom completely exposed.

Return to Kazabazua

Green-striped Darner (Aeshna verticalis)

On Sunday, August 10 Chris and I returned to Kazabazua, determined to obtain better photos to confirm that the clubtails we’d seen patrolling above the Kazabazua River were indeed Riverine Clubtails. We started a little later in the day, and headed to the dead-end road past the Eco-Centre around noon. When we got there the only dragonflies flying over the river were Fawn Darners. One hung up on a shady branch in front of me, so I caught it – a great start to the day.

A Visit to Danford Fen

Chris Traynor and I planned a wonderful outing in the Kazabazua area for the August long weekend. He’d been reviewing some of Chris Lewis’s notes about expeditions to the Kazabazua area about an hour north of downtown Ottawa, in particular to a small fen near Danford Lake where she and Bob Bracken had found Zigzag Darners, a Forcipate Emerald and and an Incurvate Emerald. The dates of their expeditions and findings are as follows: August 3, 1998 (several Zigzag Darners and one Forcipate Emerald); August 15, 1999 (several Zigzag Darners and one Incurvate Emerald); August 21, 2000 (6 Zigzag Darners); and August 10, 2002 (5 Zigzag Darners). He’d also dug out some notes from Benoit Menard who had found Subarctic Bluet (the damselfly) and Subarctic Darner (the dragonfly) in the fen. The Incurvate Emerald would be new for Chris; and the Subarctic Bluet, Zigzag Darner, Subarctic Darner, and Forcipate Emerald would be new for both of us, so we were keen on going even if it was a bit early in the season for the dragonflies. This area has the added attraction of being close to the Kazabazua River where we had seen Zebra Clubtails in 2023. I jokingly told Chris I was looking forward to writing a blog post called “Of Zigzags and Zebras” as these species at least seemed almost a sure thing, but the reality was very different.

Pennants and Dashers – a tale of two ponds

On the Friday before the long weekend my workplace allowed employees to log off work an hour earlier. This meant I had a beautiful, sunny afternoon to myself starting at 3:30. Andrew Haydon Park and the colony of Vesper Bluets I’d found there two years ago were on my mind, so I drove over right after I closed my laptop. I’d searched for them there the previous weekend, to no avail….I was probably there too early in the day for them and the Orange Bluets as I saw neither species at the water. With the sun setting a little earlier each evening as the earth tilts its way toward the equinox, the shadows were long when I arrived and I thought I might have a chance of seeing both species. I was also looking for Skimming Bluets, darners, and skimmers, though of course any cooperative ode would be welcome!

Clubtails large and small

Black-shouldered Spinyleg (Dromogomphus spinosus)

The forecast for Saturday looked gorgeous, but hot and humid. It’s been one heat wave after another this summer, and while it’s certainly preferable to the rain and smoke we’ve had previous years, I find I get tired faster in the heat.

Chris and I have been planning another trip to Quebec. He’s been eager to explore a section of Meech Creek with hidden rapids and waterfalls that looked good for clubtails and snaketails. I wanted to go with him, but I was worried about exploring a new place when I didn’t know how high or fast the water might be, how much bushwhacking we might have to do, or how long we would be out. So on Friday night I suggested that Chris do an exploratory scouting mission while I headed to a couple of places I haven’t spent too much time yet this year – Sheila McKee Park or Marlborough Forest.

Other Dragonflies at Jack Pine Trail

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.

Somatochlora Surprises

Last year I visited Jack Pine Trail in mid-July to look for Brush-tipped Emeralds. I didn’t find any, though I found three species of darners, which made me wonder if the emeralds were still present – I hadn’t recorded any there since 2019 for a myriad of reasons, including closures during the pandemic lockdowns and after the derecho of May 2022. The Brush-tipped Emerald belongs to genus Somatochlora, the striped emeralds, and is the smallest representative in our region. Somatochlora dragonflies are eagerly sought after by odonata enthusiasts, as they are uncommon to scarce in most human-populated areas, requiring special trips to remote peatlands, bogs, fens and swamps; and they are gorgeous, with their metallic green, yellow and black bodies and bright green eyes. They spend most of their time hunting on the wing and will land just often enough to give a dragon-hunter hope that they might get a good look or a photo of one perching naturally, though these emeralds often don’t often perch for very long – unless it’s on the side of a house during a drizzly day, or high up in a tree where they are shaded by the canopy. Their very unpredictability in where they will turn up makes it a delightful shock when you see one flying by.

Sarsaparilla Trail in July

Sarsaparilla Trail is always worth a quick visit in the warmer months, even with the limited access to the water. The pond is fairly large, and I’ve often wondered just how many species actually live and breed here away from the boardwalk – the only point of access to the water. On June 18, 2025 I added a new species here to the list of Stony Swamp odes, a female Horned Clubtail that landed on the boardwalk and stayed long enough for some photos. After seeing that magnificent dragonfly I wasn’t expecting to add another new species to the list anytime soon, but that is what happened on one of my visits this month.

The circular trail through the woods is short – the inner loop is only about 0.5 km – so most times I only stop by for a quick walk on my lunch break while working from home, or a short visit after returning from somewhere else. My July 8 visit was a lunchtime visit, and although there were lots of clouds in the sky, the odes were flying around the pond as usual.

To Catch a Cruiser

Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis)

I don’t see Swift River Cruisers very often, and even when I do, I seldom get the opportunity to catch or photograph one. I used to see them fairly regularly at Mud Lake, but now it seems the best place to see them – aside from my recent outing to Quebec with Chris Traynor – is Sheila McKee Memorial Park. However, even here I only see them in flight, either far out on the water or soaring high above the trees with the Prince Baskettails. Swift River Cruisers love feeding in large, sunny clearings near the rivers they breed in, dancing in the sky with graceful twists and turns too rapid to follow with the eye. They do, however, perch fairly regularly, though I have never seen one doing so at Sheila McKee Park. As such, I have not been able to enter any of my sightings into iNaturalist as photographing them is next to impossible while they are in flight.

A Missed Turn

Burritt’s Rapids has been on my radar as a low-priority place to visit for about a year now, and if I hadn’t missed a turn on my way to the southwestern corner of Marlborough Forest I wouldn’t have ended up there on a nice warm day in mid-July. I had been curious about what species I might find at the rapids there, and was hoping to find a few new species to add to iNaturalist as it didn’t have many when I first started thinking about going there. One species I was curious about was Swamp Spreadwing, which had been found a short distance east at Rideau River Provincial Park back in 2022. The only place I’ve seen this species in Ottawa is Petrie Island, and it would be fantastic to find another one closer to home. I was also wondering if the river and rocky rapids might host some of our common clubtails, such as Dragonhunter or Black-shouldered Spinyleg.

Odonata of the Rideau Canal

A day without seeing a dragonfly is like a day without chocolate – sure, it’s completely survivable, but utterly lacking in joy. I had to work downtown on both the Wednesday and Thursday after Canada Day, and decided to go for a lunchtime walk along the canal to the river on Wednesday to see if I could find any weekday odes. I’d seen Prince Baskettails and Common Green Darners flying up and down the canal, and a Midland Clubtail on the rocky shore behind Parliament Hill many moons ago, so the downtown core is not completely devoid of odonates. Still, I wasn’t expecting much, and got lucky on Wednesday when I saw first a Common Green Darner flying by, then a Prince Baskettail. Then something small fluttering above one of the mats of vegetation caught my eye – a female Eastern Amberwing ovipositing in some floating vegetation! After a few more minutes of watching, I saw a pair of males fly by. I waited for several minutes for one to land but they never did.

Searching for Clubtails at Blakeney Rapids

Last winter while looking up various clubtail sightings on iNaturalist I was surprised to find a couple of rocky creek-loving species at Blakeney Rapids just outside of Ottawa County: Mustached Clubtail, Eastern Least Clubtail, and Rusty Snaketail. These are all species I associate with the small, rocky streams of Quebec, and I was startled to see that they could be found on this side of the Ottawa River. Both the Rusty Snaketail and Eastern Least Clubtail, the two species I most wanted to see, had been observed on July 4, 2023, so I made it a point to visit the first weekend of July in 2025.

Return to Richmond CA

On July 5, 2026, I visited Bruce Pit briefly hoping to find some spreadwings, amberwings, and pennants along the northeastern corner of the pond. The water of the pond was finally low enough to have a shoreline again; however, I didn’t spy any perching pennants or Azure Bluets, as there were no stalks of vegetation emerging from the water for them to perch on. Disappointed to find little of interest at the pond, I decided not to head to the bridge or the meadow at the back and drove over to the Richmond Conservation Area instead – I’d had a fabulous time on my previous outing there, and was certain to see more there than at Bruce Pit!

Revisiting Terry Carisse Park

I haven’t spent much time at Terry Carisse Park this year, as I’ve had other projects and priorities demanding my attention and limited ode-hunting time. However, in May I received an email from a blog reader in Montreal named Pierre who was interested in trying to find a particular damselfly species – the Rainbow Bluet – which he and his wife had tried to find last year, without any luck, in known areas of Ottawa. He was interested in visiting Terry Carisse Park after reading my blog posts and messaged me in late May for the details, hoping these small, colourful damselflies would be easier to find this time around. I told him the best places to find them in the park (at the canoe/boat launch at the north end of the park and in the sunny vegetation at the top of the river bank along the south end) and told him to let me know how it went. I didn’t expect to hear from him until after his visit, but received another message on June 12th asking if I had been there recently. I hadn’t – I’d spent the previous two weekends in Nova Scotia, and the weather on my remote-work days has been too lousy to go look for odes. But when I saw the forecast for the following day – sunny and warm – I decided to head on over to see if I could do some pre-scouting for him ahead of his weekend trip.

Two provinces. Six families. One unbelievable day.

If you had told me it was possible to see more than a dozen Prince Baskettails hanging from the pine trees like early Christmas ornaments, three perching Swift River Cruisers (including two in a mating wheel), a perching Springtime Darner, an ovipositing Cyrano Darner, an emerging Dragonhunter, four additional clubtail species, a dozen Brush-tipped Emeralds, about 50 Widow Skimmers, and an Arrowhead Spiketail all in a single day here in the Ottawa region, I am not sure I would believe you. That kind of day is so rare in Ottawa that I would would assume that you were engaging in a particularly fanciful daydream. However, on the Quebec side of the river many things are possible. Part of it is due to the scenic geography – the deep, rocky lakes, rushing streams, and variety of marshes, swamps and bogs carved out of the Canadian Shield provide a fantastic variety of habitats. Part of it is due to the untouched wilderness outside of the Gatineau area – there are no cottages lining the shore, no subdivisions full of manicured lawns, no pesticides and insecticides to wreak havoc on insect populations. These two factors make it an excellent place to see a variety of odes – especially along the Ottawa River, a major dragonfly habitat of its own.