| » Getting Started » Equipment Habitats » Wetlands » Rivers and Streams » Other Habitats Damselflies » Broad-winged Damsels » Spreadwings » Bluets Dragonflies » Darners » Clubtails » Spiketails and Cruisers » Emeralds » Skimmers « Nipissing Area Toolchest « Ontario Field Naturalist's Toolches | Getting Started Once you have the basic equipment (a net or close-focusing binoculars and the algonquin field guide), a good place to start is wetlands. A wetland will have the greatest diversity of odonata, and some of the prettiest as well. Laurier Woods and the Sage Road area are good places to start. It is central to the city with a variety of habitats. For completeness, if you wish to walk that far, you can go to the far end of the yellow trail. Over there there is an area with cedars and other coniferous trees. Equipment A list of equipment an oder could carry or have
An insect net or close-focusing binoculars is essential. I prefer the insect net because once you capture a dragonfly you can examine it until you are certain of your identification and thereby learn faster. However, close-focusing binoculars can be handy in making quicker identifications of the more distinct dragonflies. If you have both, you are faced with some interesting choices. If you take both and the binoculars are in a shoulder harness, then you can't swing your net as fast. If you put the binoculars in your pouch (provided they fit) then you can't get them out fast. If you leave the net or binoculars at home or in the car, you will undoubably regret not having the item you left behind. Hand lens A hand lens is useful for examining small details needed for identification of dragonflies you capture. Microscope In a few cases a microscope is needed to resolve details too small even for a powerful hand lens. A microscope is needed mostly for the difficult female damselflies. Of course, in order to examine a dragonfly under a microscope you need to kill it first which requires a kit of its own. Lots of hassle. And don't forget that you can not take specisms from provincial parks or conservation areas without a scienific permit. Truth is, a specims is really only needed for documenting new species for our area or special scientific studies. Even then, many of these new species could be documented sufficiently with some photographs. Waders Waders are for more advanced dragonfly enthusiats who want to explore streams. Waders offers traction and keeps you dry and warm. Of course if the water gets too deep you need a bathing suit to swim deep sections (which I haven't done yet). Boats A boat such as a canoe or kayak allows easy access to rivers and streams with deep water. A boat is the optimium way of detecting only a few of the odonata. A nice evening padal could for example net you Vesper and/or Orange Bluets. Dragonflies are very difficult to catch from a boat. If you have a lot of money you there are a few boats that you can pedal upright like a bicycle and have a very stable platform. These types of boats would be the best for swinging a net from. A boat can also to used to reach remote areas. Wetlands Still water such as marshes, swamps, fens, bogs and temporary ponds are good places to start for beginning dragonfliers because this is where you will see the greatest diversity of dragonflies and damselflies of which a good portion doesn’t need to be examined in the hand for identification Laurier Woods Laurier Woods has a number of marshes and ponds on its easily accessible trails making it a good place to start. Seen here: Ebony Jewelwing (an odd place), Spotted Spreadwing, Taiga Bluet, Marsh Bluet, Sedge Sprite, Shadow Darner, Williamson's Emerald, Beaverpond Baskettail, Spiny Baskettail, Belted Whiteface, Common Whitetail, Band-winged Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk, Four-spotted Skimmer, Chalk-fronted Corporal, Racket-tailed Emerald Sage Road area The Sage Road area is also a great starter place. This area has a stream running through a wetland, a wetland that is 50% water and 50% land (grasses, sedges, moss), and a couple of small lakes. To get to the slow stream running through a wetland that connects two lakes park at the bottom of the hill and walk over the corridor. This area is good for damselflies especially spreadwings (except 2010 when it was too dry). Seen here: Elegant Spreadwing, Swamp Spreadwing, Taiga Bluet, Marsh Bluet, Hagen's Bluet, Eastern Forktail, Fragile Forktail, Sedge Sprite, Ashy Clubttail, Brush-tipped Emerald, Spiny Baskettail, Calico Pendant, Chalk-front Corporal, Dot-tailed Whiteface, Frosted Whiteface, Common Whitetail, Chalk-fronted Corporal and Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Cranberry Trail I haven’t thoroughly explored this area, especially the cranberry bog at the end. But it is a good spot if you have the patience to walk it all as it goes through a variety of habitats. Some species seen here include: Common Green Darner, Black-shouldered Spinyleg, Beaverpond Baskettail, Spiny Baskettail, and Hudsonian Whiteface. Martin River Provincial Park, Trail and Black Spruce Bog You would think this bog would produce bog species such as Ebony Boghaunter and Elfin Skimmer, but I haven’t spotted them yet. These species require bog pools which don’t seem to be visible from the boardwalk however. Oddly what I have seen in this area is plenty of Black-shouldered Spinylegs, a Uhler’s Sundragon (also seen in Restoule), an unidentified darner and a Hudsonian Whiteface. Lagoons Our five local sewage lagoons (Callander, Powassan, Sundridge, Verner and Warren) are good for dragonflies. However many of the dragonflies are inaccessible as they patrol over the lagoons themselves. It is not worth the risk to wade in these areas (both to your health and our continued access). Who would want to? However, you can identify a Common Green Darner as it flies (usually at Powassan) and you can catch or observe the dragonflies on the road or in the grasses. Northern/Vernal Bluet, Boreal Bluet, Chalk-fronted Corporal Other Still Water Environments Jack Pine Hill Northmount Swamp Sturgeon Falls River Museum Trails Notman Road Gibson Mill Road, Pond Roy Drive End Rivers and Streams Rivers, streams, seeps, spring etc have less diversity but it is where you will find many of the less common species. Nearly all streams have the jewelwings although River Jewelwings require more sunny streams than the Ebony Jewelwings. You are also likely to see Twin-Spotted Spiketails and less likely Aurora Damsel and Ocellated Emerald. But what streams are most known for are clubtails. North River The North River is my favorite stream so far. The best place is the first bridge on Songis Road. There I found the provincially rare Riffle Snaketail. A beautiful species. Also of note is Dusty Clubtail, Eastern Least Clubtail, Harpoon Clubtail, Common Baskettail and Prince Baskettail. Duchesnay Falls Duchesnay Falls has three access points. Where it opens up to Lake Nipissing you can find Midland Clubtails which are uncommon in Ontario and North Bay is the most northerly place in Eastern Ontario. Duchesnay Falls, the trail, held three suprises: A Harlequin Darner, the most northerly observation in Ontario, a Ski-tipped Emerald and Ocellated Emerald. Wow. Up a fair distance on Highway 11 north, Duchesnay Creek, roughly opposite of Black Forest Park, held the highest density of Ebony Jewelwings I have ever seen. This may be temporary as I may have got there at the peak of their emergence for the year. Also of note is a Common Green Darner at the mouth. Balsam Creek Kaibushkong River Wasi River, Kayak Marion Creek Restoule PP, River North River, Widdifield Station Road Sharpes Creek Four Mile Creek Amable du Fond River Other Habitats Lakes Lakes come in a variety of sizes from small ponds to large lakes like Lake Nipissing. Lake Nipissing – Cache Bay, Champlain Park, Sunset Park Martin River Trout Lake, McPherson Road Old Ridge Lane, Sand Dunes Restoule Woodcock Lake, in Restoule Area Rice Bay Little Tomiko Lake Watersheds I have noticed that species are dragonflies are abundant in some of our watersheds and rare or non-existent in nearby ones. Perhaps, a species spreads to occupy a whole watershed. One example is the Mattawa River watershed. What I have noticed is the rare and local species called Orange Bluet is widespread and uncommon on this watershed. I saw them in three places: Camolot Lake beside Trout Lake, Rice Bay and the Mattawa River beside Sameul de Champlain Park. Broad-winged Damsels Ebony Jewelwing and River Jewelwing are common on streams and creeks. The highest concentration Spreadwings Bluets Darners Clubtails Spiketails and Cruisers Emeralds Skimmers |