We’ve been having a totally turtle-ific time here at the Rondeau Visitor Centre for the last few weeks. You may be wondering what all the fuss is about since the egg laying season is in June and early July. Can anyone guess what happens 2 to 3½ months after eggs are laid? They hatch of course, and there is nothing cuter than a newly hatched turtle. Normally, you have to be very luck to see baby turtles in the wild. You have to be lucky enough to be in the right place and the right time as the baby turtles make their way from the nest to the water. You may be wondering why it has been turtle-ific around here if you so rarely see baby turtles. We are lucky enough to have some turtle researchers here in the park that have been incubating turtle eggs to make sure they hatch instead of being eaten. Once the turtles hatch the researchers have been showing us the baby turtles before they are released back into the wild. So I’m pleased to announce we have a lot of baby Spiny Softshell, Blandings and other species of turtles entering the wild for the first time this month.

On a different note, we’ve had quite a few of our visitors comment on the large number of dragonflies seen flying around lately. Almost anywhere that you go in the park from the Marsh trail to the beach dunes you’ll see many of our spectacularly named dragonflies including Twelve-spotted Skimmers, Black Saddlebags and White-faced Meadowhawks.

However, there is one species at Rondeau that impresses me more than the rest and that is the Common Green Darner. There are no species of dragonfly that over-winter as adults in Canada. Generally, adult dragonflies lay eggs in aquatic habitats and then expire when fall arrives. The eggs, however, persist and hatch producing dragonfly nymphs that spend the winter at the bottom of streams, ponds or marshes where temperatures stay above freezing.

Common Green Darners are not so conventional. They are one of a small handful of dragonfly species that are migratory. They are one of the first dragonfly species that we see in the spring: they can be seen as early as mid-April in Rondeau. They arrive at Rondeau earlier than other dragonfly species because young Common Green Darners emerge from their ponds in the southern United States early in the year and then use the warm southerly winds to help them fly up to Canada. Once they arrive at Rondeau the adults find mates and lay their eggs in the rapidly warming bay and marsh. Unfortunately, these adults won’t be around to make the trip back south again. The laid eggs take about 1-2 weeks to hatch and then will quickly grow to the point where they can emerge from the water in late august as adults. The newly emerged Common Green Darners will head south using the chillier northerly winds to help them on their way. Upon arriving in the southern US the adults breed and lay their eggs in the fall which will develop over winter and restart the cycle early the next spring.

Not a lot is known about dragonfly migration. Scientists are unsure of exact migratory routes, distances traveled, and many other particulars. However, they are on the track for more answers. Scientists have calculated that a Common Green Darner weighing 1 gram could migrate non-stop for 8.3 hours using its energy stores (fat!). Using this number, and factoring in the fact that dragonflies won’t completely use up their fat deposit before stopping to feed and refuel, scientists estimate that a Common Green Darner can migrate at least 700km in their southward movement; pretty impressive for a species that is only about 8cm (3in) in length. To facilitate further research on this amazing species scientists have developed tiny radio transmitters that weigh about 300 micrograms that they can attach to the undersides of the dragonflies using a combination of eye lash adhesive and super glue. With these new devices we will hopefully delve deeper into the mysteries of dragonfly migration.

If you have any questions about dragonflies or anything else nature related please email them to me at kipling.campbell@ontario.ca.

Dragonly Yours
Kipling