Frosted Whiteface – OdoNotations

Odolympics: Day 9

When I got up Sunday, the sky was full of puffy white clouds – however, there was more open blue sky than cloud, and the sun was shining! I had my breakfast, then headed out to Marlborough Forest where I hoped to add several new species to my year and Odolympics lists. My first stop was Roger’s Pond, which had hardly anything of interest the last time I had visited. I thought it might be a good outing when I saw four Common Whitetails in the first opening with three on the same log, and an Eastern Pondhawk in the clearing on the other side of the trail. However, I didn’t see much as I proceeded down the open path through the cedars – there were no emeralds flying up and down the trail, no clubtails resting on the gravel trail, and only a few Chalk-fronted Corporals perching on the ground – and I began to wonder if I should have gone somewhere else.

A Slow Start to the Season

The dragonfly season for odes that emerge here in Ottawa (as compared to those that migrate from further south) usually begins for me on the May long weekend, if not earlier. Odonate larvae need the waters they inhabit to warm up to a specific temperature in order to begin the transformation process, and this usually requires several days of heat and strong sunshine. Unfortunately this year the temperature was slow to warm up, with many days of cloud and northern winds that made it feel cold even when the sun was shining – I didn’t put my winter coat away until the first day of the long weekend because morning temperatures were still quite cold!

Two provinces. Six families. One unbelievable day.

Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis)

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.

New Odes in Marlborough Forest

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.

Finding Amberwings

The Amber-winged Spreadwing at Bruce Pit wasn’t the only good find there on July 14th. Back on July 6th I’d found a different sort of amber-wing: an Eastern Amberwing, one of our smallest dragonflies. I’d also found and photographed a Halloween Pennant, a species I’d seen flying over the water last year but hadn’t managed to find perching. I observed both species on the slope between the fence and the edge of the pond, and both were new for my Bruce Pit list. I asked Chris Lewis if she had seen either species there before, and she told me she had seen Halloween Pennant there in the past, but not Eastern Amberwing – no surprise there, since this is a relatively new addition to the Ottawa area. When I headed over to Bruce Pit after finding the Amber-winged Spreadwing at Bill Teron Park on July 14th, it was to see if I could find any more Eastern Amberwings or Halloween Pennants and get some better photos.

A New Dragonfly at Roger’s Pond

Marlborough Forest is always a fun place to visit, and after failing to find any Brush-tipped Emeralds at Jack Pine Trail earlier this week I decided to go to the E6 trail and Roger’s Pond this morning to see if I could find any of these unique Somatochlora emeralds there. Unfortunately that was not to be the case, but I had a great time and found a nice selection of odes while I was there. At Trail E6 I found many of the usual species, including Racket-tailed Emeralds, Frosted Whitefaces, and White-faced Meadowhawks.

Marlborough Forest: Heaphy Road

Last year I spent a cloudy Sunday morning in the south end of Marlborough Forest, looking for for new parts of Marlborough Forest to explore as there were very few odonate records on iNaturalist from that area. I visited four places that looked intriguing on Google Map: an unmaintained trail extending beyond Mulholland Road at Harnett Road; a large wetland further south on Harnett Road directly accessible by car; another unmaintained trail beyond Weedmark Road off of Paden Road; and the Paden Road trail itself. I had hoped to have time to explore Heaphy Road on the western boundary, as Google Maps shows it running through another big wetland and crossing over a large creek before encountering more wetlands. I wasn’t sure what the creek looked like in this area, whether it was a slow, deep, muddy, meandering waterway like the Jock River or if it was a narrow, rocky, fast-flowing stream like those I had seen recently in Nova Scotia. Fast-flowing waters provide habitat to a different variety of odonate species than the slow-moving streams and marshy ponds that make up much of Ottawa county, and I was hoping that there was a fast enough flow to attract jewelwings, clubtails, and perhaps even a spiketail. So far all that had been recorded in that area was Sedge Sprite, Common Whitetail, Dot-tailed Whiteface, and Common Green Darner, all very abundant and widespread species in Ottawa.

Exploring Marlborough Forest South

I’ve been studying the map on iNaturalist over the past few weeks, looking for new parts of Marlborough Forest to explore. In particular, I’ve been looking for ways to access it from the south, where there are very few trails or points of entry….and very few odonate records. Paden Road runs along the southern boundary, while Malakoff Road winds along its eastern boundary. There is one formal trail on Paden Road, and there are other roads that enter the forest and come to dead ends with what look like trails extending beyond them. I found four places that looked intriguing: one such trail extending beyond Mulholland Road at Harnett Road; a place further south on Harnett Road where it cuts through a large wetland; another extension beyond Weedmark Road off of Paden Road; and the Paden Road trail itself. I planned a day outing in June to see if these places were as fantastic for odes as they looked on the map. If I had time, I also wanted to explore Heaphy Road on the western boundary, which runs through another big wetland. I scheduled this project for the second Sunday in June and was looking forward to it; however, when I woke up on June 11th and saw that the forecast called for increasing cloudiness with a low chance of rain later the afternoon I wasn’t sure if I would see many bugs. However, I didn’t want to put it off as it was already almost the middle of June and soon many species would be done for the year.

Marlborough Forest: Summer 2022

I did not get out to Marlborough Forest as often as I would have liked this past summer; ongoing medical issues early in the season left me feeling too tired and too sore for the long five-hour outings I enjoyed so much last year. On June 2nd I visited the E6 trail with Rick Collins to look for the Sedge Wrens breeding there. We heard one without too much difficulty, though we weren’t able to spot it. Our other highlight was a female Ruffed Grouse on the trail trying to lure us away from its chicks (none seen) by giving distress calls. It was a gray, drizzly day so I didn’t see any insects worth photographing. Indeed, I didn’t take my camera out of my bag at all.

The weather was much better on June 19th, so Chris Traynor and I went to trail E4 to look for Twin-spotted Spiketails and some different emerald species for his life list. I was also eager to show him the pool below the culvert as this was where I’d seen my one and only Ocellated Emerald hanging out in 2020. It was a bit windy, but the sun was shining and the weather was warm, and the breeze made the usual biting insects less of a distraction.

A trip to Morris Island with the McNamara Field Naturalists

On Saturday, July 3rd I accompanied the McNamara Field Naturalists on their first in-person outing since the latest Stay-at-Home Order ended on June 2nd. Ontario entered Stage 2 of its reopening plan on July 2nd, which raised the number of people who could attend outdoor social gatherings and organized public events to 25 people (as well as allowing haircuts and personal care services again). Although I am not a member of the McNamara Field Naturalists Club, which calls Arnprior home but whose explorations include a large swath of the Ottawa Valley, one of my friends happens to be in charge of putting field trips together, and asked if I wanted to help lead a dragonfly walk. I said yes, and suggested Morris Island as it’s a great place to find all sorts of odes, including several flashy skimmers and clubtails that can be found perching in the vegetation and along the trails. I was thrilled when my mentor Chris Lewis joined us, as it would be easier to find some more of the unique species with a couple of knowledgeable people looking.

Dragonfly Emergence

My first real dragonfly outing of the year occurred on May 24, 2021, and as usual, took place at Roger’s Pond in Marlborough Forest. I invited a few friends to join me now that outdoor gatherings can include up to 5 people, and fellow OFNC members Derek and Gerald decided to join me. It was a warm, sunny day, and I hoped to find the usual common skimmers and clubtails, as well as a few uncommon species that I’d seen previously at Marlborough Forest such as the elusive Ebony Boghaunter and Harlequin Darner. I’ve already seen one boghaunter this season, but it’s been a few years since I’ve seen a Harlequin Darner, and the Cedar Grove Nature Trail has been a repeat site for this ode.

We met at 9:30 am, just early enough to get some birding in while waiting for the sun to rise higher in the sky. We had the usual Nashville Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Great Crested Flycatchers, White-throated Sparrows, Veeries, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers on the walk in. At the pond itself we had Eastern Kingbirds, a Pied-billed Grebe, Common Yellowthroats and four Ring-necked Ducks. Many dragonflies were already flying along the open trail through the cedar forest, including a few teneral whitefaces and emeralds.

The odes of Sugarbush Trail (Gatineau)

On the first Saturday in June I made plans to meet Chris Traynor at the parking lot of the Sugarbush Trail in Gatineau Park to look for dragonflies. He has re-named this trail the “Clubtail Trail” due to the large number of clubtails that breed there, and I was eager to find some new species for my life list. Unfortunately our last visit there wasn’t terribly productive due to the overcast skies; the weather on Saturday was much nicer, sunny and warm even in the morning.

As we weren’t planning to meet until 9:00 am, I stopped by Sarsaparilla Trail first to check out the birds there. This turned out to be a fantastic idea as I heard a Least Bittern calling somewhere in the reeds to the north of the boardwalk and a Virginia Rail grunting somewhere on the south side. Other species included Brown Creeper, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, a couple of Tree Swallows, a Marsh Wren singing in the reeds at the end of the boardwalk (the same one from last year?), a couple of Yellow Warblers, a White-throated Sparrow, and two Purple Finches.