Neighbourhood Odonate Count

For the last couple of years, I've been throwing around the idea of establishing an odonate (dragonflies and damselflies) count in London. While when you think of odonates, you may not think of London as a good area, it can be surprisingly good! This is obviously not the year...perhaps next year, we'll see.

I decided to focus on a smaller area this year, one I know quite well, my neighbourhood. I have had quite a lot of luck here, everything a ten minute or less walk from home! I planned out a route, and so from about 9:45 am until 7:15 pm, I counted odes! 

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

I had recorded 40 species in my neighbourhood prior to my count, 27 of which I recorded on my count. I managed to add two species to the cumulative list, bringing the total up to 42. As such, I recorded 64% of my total list on my count, which I think is quite good (considering I was only expecting 18 or 19 species)! Of those 42 species, a few of those were accidental (Citrine Forktail, Northern Bluet, Beaverpond Baskettail, Red Saddlebags), and for some others, we are outside the flight period for, such as Shadow and Lance-tipped Darner, which I see more so in August and September. 

Without any further ado, the results.

Broad-winged Damsels (Calopterygidae)

Ebony Jewelwing - 33

Spread-winged Damsels (Lestidae)

Emerald Spreadwing - 1

Slender Spreadwing - 147

Lestes sp. - 1

Narrow-winged Damsels (Coenagrionidae)

Violet Dancer - 1

Marsh Bluet - 6

Familiar Bluet - 101

Orange Bluet - 42

Stream Bluet - 2

Tule Bluet - 1

Eastern Forktail - 420

Fragile Forktail - 118

Sedge Sprite - 33

Darners (Aeshnidae)

Common Green Darner - 14

Clubtails (Gomphidae)

Unicorn Clubtail - 1

Skimmers (Libelluidae)

Dot-tailed Whiteface - 1

Black Saddlebags - 14

Widow Skimmer - 25

Twelve-spotted Skimmer - 45

Four-spotted Skimmer - 3

Blue Dasher - 89

Eastern Pondhawk - 68

Common Whitetail - 80

Eastern Amberwing - 57

Ruby Meadowhawk - 8

White-faced Meadowhawk - 2

Band-winged Meadowhawk - 68

Autumn Meadowhawk - 7

Total Species: 27

Total Individuals: 1388

I divided the checklist so I could calculate totals for each of the four locations I visited (Virginia Park, Northbrook Park, Uplands North Wetland, and Uplands Trail). I found the totals somewhat interesting. The bulk of the individuals at the Uplands wetland were Eastern Forktails (319)...I never want to look at one again.

Virginia Park

Species: 14

Individuals: 138

Northbrook Park

Species: 24

Individuals: 620

Uplands North Wetland

Species: 17

Individuals: 621

Uplands Trail

Species: 4

Individuals: 9

Okay, now some commentary...

So, what were some notable misses? I'd say my most surprising one is Skimming Bluet. They aren't super abundant in my neighbourhood, but I definitely expected at least one. The only other miss of note is Northern Spreadwing. They aren't terribly common, but usually you can find them by sorting through the Slender Spreadwings in this one area of the north wetland. I had my first of the year the previous day. I'm almost positive I did have a Northern on the count, but I couldn't get close enough to get a good look or catch it. As such, it is left as Lestes sp.

Northern Spreadwing (July 13, 2020)

As I noted earlier, I added two new species to my neighbourhood list. These were Steam and Tule Bluets. I had a hunch on where I might see some Stream Bluets, and sure enough, there was one there. The other was mixed in with a bunch of Familiar Bluets along the edge of a storm pond. The Tule Bluet was a complete surprise. I netted a blue type bluet, just to confirm it was a Familiar Bluet, but once I pulled it out I realized "Hey, that's a Tule!". My first for Middlesex county too.

Stream Bluet

Tule Bluet

So, some surprises? I had a bunch! One of the most notable is the numbers of Band-winged Meadowhawks, with 68 tallied. This is only the third occurrence I have noted in the 'hood, and the first involving more than one individual. I had all four Middlesex (and neighbourhood) meadowhawks today, with White-faced being another surprise, as I hadn't had any previously this year.

Four-spotted Skimmer is apparently uncommon in the county, I've only seen them in one other spot, in Dorchester Swamp. I had three today in a spot I haven't really visited in July before. 

Dot-tailed Whiteface is oddly rare in my neighbourhood, and I have only seen it once before. I found one male today.

Another species I had only seen once prior is Sedge Sprite. I found a good number today! I had hoped that with a concerted effort I'd be able to turn up some, but I didn't expect to see so many. The one pictured was actually my first ode of the day.

I've seen Violet Dancer once prior as well, when a male landed on the deck in my yard. I was very pleased to find a female, certainly unexpected.

One last surprise to mention would be Unicorn Clubtail. I didn't see them in the usual spot, but did catch a male in a new location. I've now seen this uncommon species on all three ponds in my neighborhood (sick of that word yet?).

A non-insect surprise was finding a couple singing Marsh Wrens. New for my patch! I've been hoping for this species for awhile, and they were right where I thought they'd be if they showed up.

I'll leave you with this Common Green Darner, a species I don't catch very often. Officially the first ode to draw blood.

A tiring day, but an excellent one. Certainly worth the bad sunburn! 

I guess I have to do a butterfly count now...

Common Sootywing

Late June Wildflowers and Bugs

Today, I decided to go down to my local park and take photos of plants and bugs. Usually I'll do bird photography there, but lately I've noticed a lot of nice wildflowers around, so I outfitted my camera with my 55mm lens (though I did bring my 600mm lens just in case).

The first wildflowers that I decided to take photos of were these Bird's-foot Trefoil (lotus corniculatus). These flowers were probably the most common one I saw all day.

Next up was this Variable Crown-vetch (Coronilla varia). Also seen a lot throughout my walk.

Just a few feet away from the last flower, was some Common St. Johns-wort (Hypericum perforatum). I think that these are one of the prettier flowers that I saw today.

My only deep purple coloured  flower of the day was Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca).

This flower is called a Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus). It looks sort of like an Aster, so it can be a little difficult to identify.

The Thistle family all look similar. This one, the Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense), is one of the more common members.

I only saw this plant once on my walk. The unique plant below is none other than Pineapple-weed (Matricaria discoidea).

The dried out stems of the Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) is a common sight in Ontario. I managed to see (and feel) a couple of the green plants today. Ouch!

Dried-out

I saw some Common Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) along the pathway. Come this fall, the berries will be ripe for the birds. I have seen Waxwings, Robins, and Hermit Thrushes enjoying the fruit.

I did not spend much time looking at the trees, but I did decide to photograph a White Oak (Quercus alba). The two species of oak I have seen in the area are Red and White. You can tell a Red from a White by looking at the leaves. White has round leaf points and Red has more pointy leaf points.

White Oak

I could not find any clover species other than Red Clover (Trifolium pretense).

Probably the most familiar wildflower to people is Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum lewcanthemum). I surprisingly only only saw this flower at one location during the whole walk.

This little white flower did not seem to be doing so hot. I am not 100% sure on the ID, but I think that it may be a White Campion (Silene latifolia).

After spending almost an hour out in the field, I finally came across a small bunch of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). When I was younger, I remember that the hill going down to the pond was covered with milkweed. I would always look for Monarch Caterpillars and Eggs hidden in the leaves. Now the hill is nothing but Variable Crown-vetch and dirt.

I saw that a leaf was broken off, and the white liquid that gives the milkweed its name was oozing out.

The Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) was growing along the trail. These are a favourite of American Robins and other thrushes.

Other then plants, there was some fun things as well. A Great Blue Heron was one of them.

I changed to the 600mm for this one!

I found an abandoned Red-winged Blackbird nest in some of the Phargmites.

No photos, but the Mallard ducklings were everywhere. The adult males were also molting.

The highlight of the walk for me was finding a Virginia Ctenucha (how you properly say that is beyond me!) He (or she) was very friendly, and even decided to crawl onto my hand while I was taking a few photos!

I saw three species of Dragonflies and Damselflies. The first being a Tule Bluet.

Common Whitetail and Common Green Darner was also observed.

Common Whitetail

I saw a Solider Beetle for about a minute before it flew off.

I am sure that one day I will get to identifying this bee, but for now....it is just a bee.

Just a Bee...

Hoverflies, Mud Daubers and Cabbage Whites would not sit still for a photo, but were seen quite frequently.

That is it for now, though I am sure that another post will be coming out soon enough. Thanks!