Bioblitz! The Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden

South CoastBioblitz! The Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden Eurobodalla National Park Gulaga / Mt Dromedary Fauna Flora Islands National Parks and Reserves Wallaga Lake

Photographs and Author Phil Warburton ◦

If you ever get chance to participate in a ‘bioblitz’, grab the opportunity with both hands! One such opportunity is the bioblitz that takes place each year at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens (ERBG) on the NSW south coast near Batemans Bay. It is a very rewarding activity where a bunch of photographers and amateur naturalists go out looking to catalogue all the life they find.

The fantastic Botanic Gardens in the Eurobodalla came into being in 1985 to address concerns that development in the region was leading to a loss of the natural environment in the region. Today, the 42 hectares of the botanic garden provides a home for a substantial collection of living plants, as well as a seed bank and an important dried plant collection in the Wallace Herbarium.

What the bioblitz revealed is that the ERBG is home to a host of creatures as well as the plant life. The bioblitz found 741 different species. A third of them were plants, another third were insects, and the remainder were mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders and a surprising 93 species of fungi.

Among the finds in the bioblitz were several species that are rare or seldom seen. In one case, a red hoverfly with white spots, Odyneromyia iridescens, had never been photographed in the wild before. The species was known from pinned specimens, the most recent having been collected in 1952.

Another of the seldom-seen creatures was a stiletto fly, Acupalpa rostrata, that hadn’t been recorded in NSW since 1968.

The gardens are home to 24 species of orchids, some of which are threatened and restricted to just a few known locations. One such orchid is the East Lynne Midge Orchid (Corunastylis vernalis). The pollinator for this plant was first identified in the ERBG, as a species of Chloripid grass fly.

A big part of the fun in bioblitz activity is the detective work in identifying photographs to species. In many cases, it simply is impossible to do so from photographs and often detailed or microscopic examination of specimens is required. The ERBG bioblitz has so far managed to identify two thirds of the photographed observations to species. This is a great tribute to the many experts who contributed to the process of identification through the iNaturalist database.

The photos below are just a few of the other species to be found in the gardens. More information can be found in the links in the footnote.

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Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)
This is one of the more commonly encountered snakes in Australia. It is a member of the cobra family, Elapidae, and is venomous with both haemotoxic and cytotoxic venom. However, it is not usually aggressive and avoids human contact. It is seldom responsible for attacks on humans, unless provoked, and fatal encounters have never been recorded.

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Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus)
The Friarbird can be recognised by its raucous cackling and chattering. It gained it’s common name because of the bald head, similar to a traditional friar’s haircut!

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Australian Emerald Dragonfly (Hemicordulia australiae)
One of at least 14 species of Odenata (Dragonfly and Damselfly) that are found in the ERBG. A medium sized dragonfly with the characteristics of the Corduliidae family: black with yellow and orange colours.

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Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
This was one of a small group feeding on sago flower, Ozothamnus diosmifolius, in the family Asteraceae.

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Swamphen and chick (Porphyrio melanotus)
This Swamphen was raising its chicks in the reeds of one of the several ponds in the ERBG. The photo was taken with a long lens – the swamphens weren’t disturbed!!

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Red Bull Ant snatching a Bee (Myrmecia simillima)
This Red Bull Ant snatched a European Honeybee (Apis melifera) from a flower (Kunzea) and set off carrying it back to its nest.

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South CoastBioblitz! The Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden Eurobodalla National Park Gulaga / Mt Dromedary Fauna Flora Islands National Parks and Reserves Wallaga Lake

New South WalesNew South Wales Fauna New South Wales Flora Barunguba Montague Island Blue Mountains Bourke Bundeena Central Coast Kosciuszko National Park Lower North Shore Lightning Ridge Mount Kaputar National Park Northern Beaches Sapphire Coast Snowy Mountains Region South Coast Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden Sydney