Variable Darner – OdoNotations

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.

A Darner Kind of Day

Today I went to Bruce Pit to see if anything was still flying around the edges of the pond and the field at the back. When I was here last weekend, there had still been three meadowhawk species and six damselfly species (Slender Spreadwing, Spotted Spreadwing, Azure Bluet, Familiar Bluet, Fragile Forktail and Eastern Forktail) still present, as well as an unidentified darner in flight over the water. With only two days left in the month I wasn’t expecting much, and indeed the wet vegetation at the edge of the pond yielded only three damselflies on this visit: Slender Spreadwing, Spotted Spreadwing, and Familiar Bluet. I also saw White-faced and Autumn Meadowhawks, but the Band-winged Meadowhawk from last weekend was gone.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw at least two large darners zipping along the edge of the shore, especially when one flew low to investigate the reeds close to where I was standing. My net shot out, and the next thing I knew there was an angry buzzing sound coming from inside. I had caught a darner, and I was not really surprised to find a male Canada Darner inside.

Road Trip: Odes in Nova Scotia

We left P.E.I. via ferry, crossing from Wood Islands to Caribou after dinner. It was dark by the time we arrived at Seabank House in Pictou, a beautiful Victorian bed-and-breakfast overlooking the harbour that looked like something out of a Stephen King movie. In reality this 1854 building was quite charming inside, featuring spacious rooms, stained glass windows, and a grand staircase. This was our favourite accommodation of the trip (not including the AirBnB we stayed at in the Annapolis Valley). We stayed in the Hummingbird Suite with its two canopy beds, and enjoyed a breakfast of Eggs Benedict and fruit and yogurt the following morning. I was hoping to go for a walk along the harbour and look for sea and water birds for my county list before we left, but it was quite foggy outside and I couldn’t see much so I skipped it.

The Odes of Edmonton

On September 18th I flew to Edmonton to visit my sister for a few days. Alberta is not a new province for me; my family had lived on an acreage outside of Ardrossan, which is east of Edmonton and Sherwood Park, for seven years from 1989 to 1996. As I was just teenager at the time, enduring all the drama and angst of high school, I had had no interest in nature back then – which is really too bad, as we’d lived on a small lot with a forest behind our house and a slough (a vegetated pond) across the road. When my parents and I moved back in 1996 – they to southern Ontario, via Tweed, and me and my fiancé to Ottawa – my sister remained behind, although it wasn’t until 2012 when I returned to attend her wedding.

My sister has since divorced and now lives in the north part of Edmonton, in a brand new development called Crystallina Nera. It is so new that there are no trees or gardens yet, several houses have not yet put down any sod, and houses are still being built nearby. This developments boasts a 4.8 hectare urban forest and a naturalized storm water pond, both of which I spent a lot of time exploring.