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.
On July 1st I spent the morning at Sheila McKee Memorial Park with the full intention of heading out to Pinhey’s Point afterward. My goals were to get to Sheila McKee early enough to look for the Yellow-throated Vireo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo that had been found there recently, then look for dragonflies in the open meadow and along the river shore. I was hoping to find another Mustached Clubtail, or perhaps an Arrow Clubtail, or the first Cobra or Midland Clubtails of the season. It was a bit cool in the morning, so I waited until 8:30 am to leave. When I got there just before 9:00 there were already several cars in the parking lot, and by the time I headed out to the road to listen for the elusive cuckoo a cavalcade of cars was turning into the parking lot from Sixth Line Road.
The morning of July 18th was warm and cloudless, so we resumed our search for rushing creeks, waterfalls, and odes. I had noticed one spot on Google maps that wasn’t too far from us – Slokum Brook Falls, just north of the Trans-Canada Highway. Photos showed a nice little brook with a steep waterfall in the middle of the woods, and reviews on Alltrails.com indicated that it was a bit difficult to find, as it is very overgrown at the beginning. It is said to be the highest falls on the North Mountain that drains into the valley, though there is really only water here during the spring runoff. We drove down Lily Lake Road, slowing down once we got past the lake itself. I peered into the dense foliage along the road, and found only two spots that looked like trails entering the woods, though both had “private property” signs at the entrance. Once the forest opened up we realized we must have gone past it, and decided to turn around at the end of the road, which elbowed north onto Douglas Road as the woods gave way to farm fields.
Family Corduliidae (the emeralds) is one of my favourite dragonfly families. My love for these green-eyed beauties grew when I started seeing a large number of Williamson’s Emeralds (Somatochlora williamsoni) in Stony Swamp in the summer of 2014; one particular day at the end of June stands out in my memory because I found a total of five emerald species at Jack Pine Trail in one visit (Common Baskettail, Prince Baskettail, Racket-tailed Emerald, Brush-tipped Emerald and Williamson’s Emerald). It was around that time that I realized that I didn’t have to wander too far from home to see such a fantastic variety of wildlife – Stony Swamp in particular is amazing, with the Eagleson storm water ponds close behind. I saw two Williamson’s Emeralds in Stony Swamp in 2018, then none in any subsequent years. The Brush-tipped Emerald population was still present as of last year, with one iNaturalist record (not mine) from Old Quarry Trail on July 1, 2022.
Sunny skies, a predicted high of 20°C, and a day off from work on the last Friday in May meant plans to visit Marlborough Forest for the first time this season with my mentor, Chris L. I had convinced her to come with me to trail E4 north of Roger Stevens Drive, home of the Ocellated Emerald, Ashy Clubtail, and Twin-spotted Spiketail – though it was too early for any of those to be flying yet. No less exciting were the possibilities for the early spring dragons that should be on the wing by now: Harlequin Darner, American Emerald, Ebony Boghaunter, and maybe a Springtime Darner or Stream Cruiser. We were sure to see plenty of whitefaces and other skimmers, some baskettails and a Dusky Clubtail or two, and some gossamer-winged butterflies to keep things interesting…the great thing about Marlborough Forest is that it is home to an amazing number of species not easily found in the city, so anything is possible!
I spent some time at Jack Pine Trail this morning. It was a good walk, if not terribly productive. My best bird sighting was that of a Broad-winged Hawk – or rather, a family of Broad-winged Hawks, as I heard two birds calling incessantly in the woods and saw another soaring in the sky. I was wondering if the two calling birds were youngsters, as the calls were shortened – “chick-ee!” rather than the longer, drawn out whistled “chick-eeeeeee”. The one in flight gave the full call, which made me think it was an adult responding. I tried to get a look at the two birds, as they weren’t too far off the trail; however, the thick brush prevented me from seeing where they were perched. Other good birds there that were still singing included Alder Flycatcher, Winter Wren, Eastern Towhee, Black-and-white Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.
There weren’t too many dragonflies on the wing, but I was happy when an emerald I found patrolling along the boardwalk turned out to be a male Brush-tipped Emerald. This one was much fresher in appearance than the one I had caught at Roger’s Pond, with much brighter markings on the thorax.
Brush-tipped Emerald
As you can tell from the above image, this dragonfly is small with bright green eyes and a metallic bronze and green thorax. The second yellow spot on the thorax is oval-shaped, while the first spot is a longer and thinner – more of an irregular dash. The hairy claspers for which it is name are distinctive among the other emeralds in the same family. In this image you can see the “brush-tip”, as well as the yellow markings along the side of the abdomen which help to differentiate it from the Racket-tailed Emerald:
Brush-tipped Emerald
It is great seeing this species so close to home instead of travelling all the way to Marlborough Forest to look for it, which is the only other place in our area where I know it is found. I’ve been seeing them here for a few years now, indicating the population is relatively stable; for such a small creature, I think these dragonflies hold a lot of charm!
On July 18th I headed over to the Cedar Grove Nature Trail in Marlborough Forest, as a summer visit was long overdue. After a disappointing visit in June, when a lot of odes and butterflies seemed to be late due to the prolonged cold weather, I was hoping to find some of the early species still flying. To be honest, I had no idea whether insect emergence was still late or back on track, or whether I would even see some of the specialties I was hoping for – such as Calico Pennant, Brush-tipped Emerald, Aurora Damsel, Silvery Checkerspot, fritillaries and more. Regardless, I was looking forward to a change of scenery, and would be happy with whatever I saw.
There weren’t many birds of note, although I was surprised to hear both a Blue-headed Vireo and a Black-throated Green Warbler still singing. It was after 1:00 p.m. by the time I arrived, so not only was it late in the season, but also late in the day. A pair of female or immature Hooded Mergansers near the bridge was a surprise; this was the first time I had seen this species on the pond.
The August long weekend is here, and it’s been brutally hot and humid. Temperatures have reached as high as 32°C with a humidex of 41. It didn’t feel quite so hot yesterday, but today was awful. The sun was relentless, and there was no cooling breeze to provide relief. Being in the shade helped, but even so, I didn’t feel like staying out for very long.
We haven’t had much rain in the last month, so the water levels of the Ottawa River have dropped and mudflats are developing in Shirley’s Bay and Ottawa Beach. I wanted to look for shorebirds, but Shirley’s Bay didn’t sound too appealing – a long mosquito-infested walk through the woods to get to the dyke, which is almost completely open to the baking sun – all the while carrying a scope that sometimes feels like it weighs as much as I do. So yesterday I drove over to Andrew Haydon Park instead.
June is one of my favourite months. Normally the weather is hot and sunny by the time the solstice rolls around, the birds are all in full song, and newly-emerged butterflies and dragonflies are returning to woodlands, fields and wetlands. However, the weather this month has not been great. The rain from May continued on and off this month, keeping water levels of the rivers and ponds higher than normal, and likely delaying the emergence of many insects. The weekends have been nice, at least; I’ve been able to get out early in the day in order to look for new birds for my year list and any butterflies and dragonflies that may have emerged. While my enthusiasm has certainly declined since our amazing trip to Costa Rica, I’ve found myself regaining interest in visiting trails and conservation areas close to home, hoping to find some species I haven’t seen since the previous summer.
The day after my trip to the Bill Mason Center, I made plans with Chris Lewis and Chris Traynor to head out to the Cedar Grove Nature Trail in Marlborough Forest to look for odes around Roger’s Pond. I would be co-leading an OFNC outing there the following weekend with Jakob Mueller, a reptiles and amphibians guy, and wanted to get an idea of the dragonflies and damselflies that were flying. As we weren’t meeting at the parking lot there until 8:30, I headed out to Sarsaparilla Trail first, then the Rideau Trail for a quick look around.
The day after the excellent snaketail adventure in Gatineau Park, I headed over to Jack Pine Trail to see if any of its unique dragonflies were on the wing. Two years ago I found a healthy population of Brush-tipped and Williamson’s Emeralds, and Arrowhead Spiketails are regularly seen along the stream at the back. Although I’d heard that it takes four years for Williamson’s Emerald larvae to mature, I had hopes of at least finding the Brush-tipped Emerald; I still think it’s amazing that all these wonderful dragonflies live and breed so close to home. I was also hoping to find some spreadwings, as I’ve seen both Northern and Emerald Spreadwings along the trails here in the past – though none in the past couple of years.
OdoNotations 