Incurvate Emerald and Elfin Skimmer at Grant Creek Bog, Stonecliffe, Renfrew County
Bill Lamond
Hi all,
This is a belated post from a four day trip to Stonecliffe, Renfrew County from 22-25 July. This hamlet is on Hwy 17 about 35 km west of Deep River. There were a few species of note. On the 23rd I encountered five Incurvate Emeralds (caught two) at a bog I will call Grant Creek Bog. On topo maps it is called Grant Creek Marsh and although this wetland may become "marshy" as it approaches the actual creek, the majority of it is definitely a bog - a very open, large bog perhaps 50 hectares in extent (46.195888, -77.968307). It has a thin (100m) ring of stunted Black Spruce and then the rest is wide open sphagnum with a very small creek running through it with a 1/2 hectare pond in the middle. It is a wonderful spot and could be quite serene if not for the unholy trinity of deer flies, black flies and mosquitoes that were barely tolerable. I was alerted to the presence of this bog last year by Ed Poropat and Kyle Holloway. It is easy to access from a relatively good dirt track from Hwy 17 to the pipeline right-of-way and the hydro right-of-way. After the right-of-ways the track becomes "iffy" but you can easily walk it from here. I expected to find Incurvate Emeralds here based on a very brief visit 2 weeks previously. I was half expecting to find Zigzag Darner here but disappointingly, no. I did find a male and female Elfin Skimmer here on 24 July, my first for Renfrew County.
At Stonecliffe proper on 23 July, I was eating supper out front of the cabin when I noticed what looked like a substantial sized skimmer flying over the lawn of the Town Hall buildings about 150m away. It was catching the rays from the setting sun and was very noticeable. I figured it must be a Four-spotted Skimmer or baskettail, despite the manner of flight. I approached the area and was surprised to see it was a glider. I was unable to catch it but on a few occasions when it was directly overhead, the spot on the hind wing of this Spot-winged Glider was visible. There are few records for Renfrew County. Immediately after this I drove to the Bissett Creek waterfalls (46.183460, -78.081004) off of Bissett Creek Road and saw two male Zebra Clubtails and one or two Ocellated Darners.
Bill
