Algonquin Odonate Count

This past Wednesday was the odonate (dragonflies and damselflies) count in Algonquin Park. Due to the circumstances this year, they weren't able to conduct the count as normal, but in order to not have a hole in the date, they still wanted to do something. As such, a much smaller group of counters undertook the task. Peter Mills, the coordinator, was nice enough to invite me up, despite me having never done the count before.

We left London quite early in the morning, aiming to arrive at the outdoor theatre in the park (near East Beach, on Lake of Two Rivers), by 8:30 am. There we were briefed on the task at hand, and split off into our groups. I was was Bill and Sarah Lamond, as well as Alex Mills.  

We started off in the Old Airfield area, where we first checked a wooded section on the south side. Not much here, save for one of the two White-faced Meadowhawks our group had.

We made our way to Provoking Falls, where we had quite a lot of luck. Several species we had here were not seen anywhere else on the count. Sarah spotted a Zebra Clubtail, apparently the first for the count.

Twin-spotted Spiketail

Two for one! Eastern Least Clubtail (top) and Stream Cruiser (bottom)

Uhler's Sundragon

Dragonhunter - we had nearly 30 of these that day

We could have spent a long while here, but we had to keep moving! We planned to go check a bog for emeralds, so on our way we went through the open part of the airfield. There were tons of odes, but they were just too high for us to catch! We did nab a couple new species though.

Incurvate Emerald - rare and a lifer for me!

Variable Darner

The bog ended up being a bust, but we did see several Belted Whitefaces, as well as a Frosted and Hudsonian Whiteface. A few butterflies were around as well, most noteworthy being Bog Copper. In lack of odes, here is a consolation sedge.

Houghton's Sedge (Carex houghtoniana)

After lunch, we went over to the Pog Lake campground. We wanted to check a creek for Harpoon Clubtail, but didn't find any! We did, however, add Hagen's Bluet and Aurora Damsel to the list. Several Violet Dancers were present as well.

I really didn't botanize all that much, but there were a couple neat things along the creek.

Needle Spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis)

Inflated Sedge (Carex vesicaria)

Black-girdle Bulrush (Scirpus atrocinctus)

Afterwards we went to the Pog Lake dam. We saw several clubtails over the water as we arrived, so we got excited!

Bill looking for dragonflies

We had several Dragonhunters, a couple Mustached Clubtails, a Rusty Snaketail, and an Ashy Clubtail. I believe the latter three were all the only ones of the count.

Rusty Snaketail

After the dam, we made one more stop in a sedge meadow along Centennial Ridges Road.

Again, no emeralds! Oh well, at least we saw a few other goodies, such as our first Delta-spotted Spiketails, Black-shouldered Spinyleg, Sweetflag Spreadwing, and Eastern Red Damsels. We also had a Beaverpond Clubtail, the only one of the count, and a lifer for Alex. Just as we were leaving, I netted a Sphagnum Sprite.

Sweetflag Spreadwing

Delta-spotted Spiketail

Black-shouldered Spinyleg - note damaged wing

Beaverpond Clubtail

Eastern Red Damsel

Sphagnum Sprite

We then went to the docks at Opeongo for the compilation. I believe we ended up as a group with 42 or 43 species, and the complete count was at least 69 (66 as of compilation, I know they got Stygian Shadowdragon, Vesper Bluet, and Orange Bluet, perhaps some late additions were submitted as well). It was a hot and humid, and despite the limited number of observers, it still turned out to be a great day! EDIT: Final count tally was 72 species, two short of the all time high record! This includes two new count additions!

On our way out of the park I popped into Spruce Bog hoping for one last shot at some emeralds, but no luck. 

As a consolation prize, I found Billing's Sedge (Carex billingsii), a somewhat uncommon and overlooked inhabitant of open sphagnum bogs. It is very similar to Three-seeded Sedge (C. trisperma), which I also saw. It can be separated from Three-seeded by its narrower leaves, which are filiform (thread-like) and involute (rolled inwards at the edges). Three-seeded has wider flat leaves.

A fun filled day in the park!

On another note, yesterday I got a call from Bill Lindley who said that he was looking at a Ruff in the Strathroy Sewage Lagoons. I couldn't believe my ears! I had my phone on mute, so I sure am glad I had looked over and saw the screen light up! I rushed over, and there it was, a nice male Ruff. It hasn't been seen today to my knowledge. Also at the lagoons was my first Short-billed Dowitcher for Middlesex county. Isn't it weird how less than 24 hours earlier I had been standing in a bog listening to singing Hermit and Swainson's Thrushes? 

Algonquin Ode Trip July 5-7

Hopefully I will get around to writing about some of the other activities from my recent trip, but for now, I will just copy and paste my writeup about the ode (dragonflies and damselflies) portion of the trip from the google group, Ont-Odes.

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This past weekend, myself, along with Owen Strickland, Riley Walsh, Ethan Gosnell, and Jack Farley, departed for Algonquin Park, to spend our days looking at odes, and spend our nights looking at moths. This was the first time any of us had had a chance to properly look for odes outside of "southwestern" Ontario (south of the shield), with the exception of the five of us having done the shorebird project in southern James Bay last summer, so we were all looking forward to a bunch of lifers!

 Our first stop upon our arrival in the park was the Whiskey Rapids trail. Almost immediately, we found a bunch of odes foraging out over the river. The first to be caught was Twin-spotted Spiketail, which proved to be the most common species at that location. We also netted a few Swift River Cruisers and a Stream Cruiser. In addition, we netted three species of clubtail; Ashy, Mustached, and a single Harpoon. A fourth species, a teneral Eastern Least Clubtail, was seen on the shore with its wings damaged. There were a couple Springtime Darners patrolling the river, as well as a few Ulher's Sundragons. Both Ebony and River Jewelwings were spotted.

Harpoon Clubtail

Mustached Clubtail

Swift River Cruiser

Twin-spotted Spiketail

Uhler's Sundragon

 Continuing down the trail, we were able to add a few more species to the list, including the incredibly common Chalk-fronted Corporal, and a female Hudsonian Whiteface. At a small pond along the trail, we netted Frosted Whiteface, Four-spotted Skimmer, and Calico Pennant, along with a couple of Marsh Bluets. We netted a female Ashy Clubtail here as well. Racket-tailed and American Emeralds were also netted along the remainder of the trail. 

Ashy Clubtail

Four-spotted Skimmer

Belted Whiteface

Next, we went to the Tea Lake dam. A couple of new clubtails for the trip were found, including a female Lancet Clubtail, and a Rusty Snaketail. A Common Basketail was flying around. Over the river, we caught another Springtime Darner, as well as a Hagen's Bluet. Hagen's Bluet was the most common bluet all weekend, and it took us until late Sunday afternoon to net a bluet of another species! We caught another Uhler's Sundragon here as well.

Springtime Darner

Common Baskettail

Lancet Clubtail

 Our last stop before supper was the Peck Lake trail, which proved to be pretty quiet. Tons of Hagen's Bluets, as well as a couple American Emeralds. The most noteworthy odes were a couple of Crimson-ringed Whitefaces.

American Emerald

Crimson-ringed Whiteface

 After dinner at the VC, we checked out the Highland Backpacking trail head. Here we were pleased to net a Spiny Baskettail, as well as a Delta-spotted Spiketail. The "surprise" of the night was a female Ski-tipped Emerald. All of us had seen very few Somotochlora emeralds prior, myself having only seen Williamson's, so we were quite happy with the catch.

Ski-tipped Emerald

Spiny Baskettail

Delta-spotted Spiketail

 The final stop of the night was the Lake Opeongo access docks to look for an ode that we all really wanted to see. Around 9 pm, I caught the first Stygian Shadowdragon of the night. In total, there were about six individuals, and every member of the party was able to catch them. Be warned, however, the blackflies were pretty bad. I also briefly saw a Vesper Bluet skimming the water.

 After a night of mothing, we awoke the next morning after a few hours of sleep, and headed back out to look for odes. We stopped again at the Highland Backpacking trail parking lot, this time successful in our search for Beaverpond Clubtail.

 Next, we went to the Big Pines trail. There was a large swarm of baskettails right at the parking lot, and we added Prince Baskettail and Beaverpond Baskettail to the trip list. We were all pleased when I was able to net a pair of Eastern Red Damsels along the stream near the parking lot as well. The most noteworthy ode along the trail was a female Beaverpond Clubtail.

Eastern Red Damsel

Beaverpond Baskettail

Beaverpond Clubtail

 Afterward, we went to the logging museum, where we saw a pair of Harpoon Clubtails, as well as a Canada Darner and Elegant Spreadwing. Here we finally found our first, and I believe only, Dusky Clubtail of the trip.

Elegant Spreadwing

Dusky Clubtail

 Right after the logging museum, we went to the Cameron Lake logging road, off of Opeongo Road. We had considerable luck here, with a Dragonhunter right off the bat, followed closely by a Black-shouldered Spinyleg, two species we had just been commenting on how it had been weird it was how we hadn't seen any yet. After many, many, Racket-tailed Emeralds, I finally was able to net a Somotachlora, which proved to be a Brush-tipped Emerald, one of two males we caught on the road. We managed to catch two other species of Somotachlora, a couple more Ski-tipped, and a nice female Clamp-tipped Emerald. On our way back, we netted a Stream Cruiser. 

Dragonhunter

Black-shouldered Spinyleg 

Brush-tipped Emerald

Clamp-tipped Emerald

Stream Cruiser

After dinner, we headed to the Hemlock Bluff parking area in hopes of Harlequin Darner and Lake Emerald. We struck out on Harlequin Darner, which was one of three misses (the others being Cyrano Darner and Subarctic Bluet) over the course of the weekend. We risked life and limb to try and net odes as they flew around the marshes on either side of highway 60, and eventually, after several Common Baskettails, I netted a Somotochlora after a brief chase. It proved, however, not to be a Lake Emerald, but instead a female Williamson's Emerald. A while passed, but eventually, I spotted a Lake Emerald, hovering just out of reach, but it flew off before the others could see it. We were unable to find another the next evening. 

That night proved to be another great night of mothing, and we saw several species of sphinxes, and four species of silkmoths (Cecropia Moth, Luna Moth, Rosy Maple Moth, and Polyphemus Moth). 

We spent our last day looking for some of our final target species. After a morning in the airfield looking at tiger beetles, we went to the Spruce Bog Boardwalk in hopes of Sphagnum Sprite, but were only able to turn up Sedge Sprites. A few other species were flying around, including Prince and Common Baskettails, as well as a few Common Whitetails. 

Prince Baskettail

Sedge Sprite

Afterward, we headed to Eos Lake, hoping for Subarctic Bluet, but, as previously mentioned, we failed to find any. We did, however, luck out and find a few Sphagnum Sprites. After two of us fell through the sphagnum mat, unfortunately, one being me, we decided to head back. However, just as we were leaving Owen was able to net a male Elfin Skimmer, a very nice surprise. They are truly very tiny!

Belted Whiteface

Elfin Skimmer

Sphagnum Sprite 

 Our last ode stop of the trip was late afternoon at the Bat Lake trail. The buggy, and somewhat uncomfortable for us with wet shoes, walk was made worthwhile when we found many Amber-winged Spreadwings, Northern Bluets, and a single Boreal Bluet (which was let go before I got a photo, argh!). Also of note were many Crimson-ringed Whitefaces and a Lake Darner.

Amber-winged Spreadwing

 

Lake Darner

 It was an excellent trip. In total, we saw 56 species, 53 of which we were able to net. Many lifers were seen by everybody, myself having seen 30 personally. Special thanks to Henrique for answering our questions in regards to odeing in the park!