Join the fun - Observe, Photograph, Identify
At midnight tonight, local time, the general public around the Southern Hemisphere will join scientists for a four day intensive data collection event to gather critical information needed by scientists to better understand biodiversity, namely the hugely complex intertwined ecosystems of plants, creatures and other life forms, and the roles each of them play in sustaining the habitats in which we all live.
Our Castlemaine Region has made a great contribution for the last four years. Please join us again or for the first time this year! From midnight tonight October 23rd to midnight on Monday October 27th use your camera or smartphone to record images or soundtracks of all life forms (excluding humans and pets) in the bush, parklands or your own garden. You then have until November 10th to upload them to iNaturalist, the global biodiversity databank. Details on the Bioblitz and our past contributions can be found on the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club website: https://castlemainefieldnaturalists.org.au/great-southern-bioblitz/
One fun activity is “Moths at Home”. At dusk turn on an outside light where it shines on a blank wall. Periodically through the evening go outside and inspect the wall and record whatever is present. Keep going until bedtime. Different moths will come out at different times. Take close-up photos if possible – use a bright torch to provide additional lighting or use a telephoto and flash on the camera. The telephoto lets you stand further back so the subject is not obscured by the shadow from the lens.
From tomorrow morning you will be able to see what has been recorded by visiting our project page on iNaturalist https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2025-castlemaine-region You can see what other groups across the Southern Hemisphere are recording by going to the GSB 2025 Umbrella Project at https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2025-umbrella and clicking on a regional project to see their sightings.
Even if you are unable to add sightings of your own, once the bioblitz has started you can still contribute by confirming the identification of sightings that others have loaded to iNaturalist during the bioblitz by logging on to iNaturalist then clicking this link: https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/identify?project_id=249786
Looking forward to seeing your contribution, and thank you!