Yes, all you naturalists, budding naturalists, citizen scientists, botanists and well, everybody who lives in our coastal environment
- your BioBlitz 2022 is coming in September!
Taking place in the fascinating habitat of the old goldfields of Bermagui over the weekend of Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September, the program includes Bird Tours, Frog Forages, Nocturnal Animal Call Playback, Arboreal Mammal Spotlighting, Bird Surveys, Reptile Searches, Moth and Insect Collection and Observation, and Plant Surveys.
Saturday night includes an iteration of the VIVID style projection event Bioluminescence!
A BioBlitz on a fascinating site outside Bermagui, NSW
What is a BioBlitz?
A BioBlitz is a snapshot study of a specific location, where scientists and the community work together to survey and record as many species within a nominated timeframe –generally 24-48 hours. BioBlitzes are becoming frequent, large-scale citizen science field events in Australia. Recently the Atlas of Life conducted a BioBlitz online symposium, which you can find more information about here.
ABOUT THE SITE
From 1880 to 1883 the Montreal Goldfields site was home to roughly 2,000 hopeful souls all digging with picks and shovels, mining for alluvial gold. The site is pockmarked with shafts, dug in a very short period, virtually on top of each other, excavated in the search for the old river bed and its gold-bearing quartz. Most of the area’s trees were felled to build shelters, tunnel supports and mining structures and when the miners finally left, the buildings were scavenged and all that remained was a network of tunnels, shafts and
a ‘topsy turvy’ landscape void of plants.
Left alone for 130 years, the area has healed and a healthy community of native plants has re-established.
Bloodwood, Bangalay and Silvertop Ash form a canopy over a diverse range of smaller trees, shrubs, herbs, ferns, climbers and grasses.
Tree ferns grow from the shady and moist habitat of the old shafts.
Birds call through the lakeside bushland night and day, pollinators rest on abundant flowering plants,
and arboreal creatures watch from their high perches.
At the time of this rush for riches, the local Yuin peoples were barely acknowledged. Prospectors had no hesitation in sinking shafts anywhere they wished including nearby Gulaga, or Mother Mountain, a site extremely sacred to 1st Nation Peoples.
We would like to acknowledge that these lands and waters are valued greatly for their spiritual and cultural features, and pay our respect to the Djiringanj people of the Yuin Nation, and to their elders past, present, and all those emerging.
We suggest that you register your place on your selected program tours, talks and events, as soon as possible.
Numbers are limited on many of the events, so visit the program soon and peruse our wonderful offerings.
For all program details and registrations go here.
Saturday night will see the Goldfield lit up with video projections and lights to create Bermagui’s own Vivid style event.
Facilitated by the Atlas of Life, the show will be designed and built by a team of local high school students under the direction of Bermagui video projection artist Scott Baker.
Bioluminescence @ Montreal Goldfield is the second science-based video projection event after the successful
Bioluminescence @ Tathra Wharf earlier this year.
The Bioluminescence program is designed to introduce the video projection mapping process and a variety of associated skills such as videography, video editing and event management to young people. The students learn to capture the natural world around them and present it back on local landmarks using the latest video projection technology.
Come and see what natural treasures the students capture on film at the Goldfield and use to turn the site into a glowing fairyland on Saturday night 17th September from 7pm. Entry is free for all ages.
Register your interest in attending Bioluminescence here
