Snappers blitz The Bluff

AVID naturalists, photographers and residents have flocked to Barwon Heads’ Barwon Bluff to be part of a two-hour “BioBlitz” re-documenting the flora and fauna within the coastal area.

Hosted by Friends of the Bluff Barwon Heads, the conservation group welcomed dozens of locals and visitors to its event over the weekend to take photos and upload images of local wildlife in the area.

Friends of the Bluff president Jon Duthie said the event’s two primary focuses included sourcing the images taken for the renovation of the group’s new website and letting residents know more community events will be held moving forward.

“The Bluff is arguably the most prominent feature of Barwon Heads and perhaps the most iconic, but there’s always been an element of people enjoying the view as opposed to what’s living in it,” Mr Duthie said.

“We’ve been pretty quiet as a group over the past couple of years due to the pandemic, but this event will help us to set up more community events in the future, and also help us to refresh our website.”

Photographers took photos of birds, mammals, vegetation, trees, and anything they could find from the bluff’s carpark to the marine sanctuary at the base of the bluff’s cliffside.

All photos were then uploaded to the ‘iNaturalist’ app, which will act as a photo server for Friends of the Bluff to use in renovating its website.

“The website’s upgrade, or reimagination as we like to call it, will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the bluff’s marine sanctuary in November,” Friends of the Bluff member and mentor Mark Rodrigue said.

“We’re taking stock of our website for the first time since 2003, currently there are a bunch of broken links and old photos, and this event will really help us update what will hopefully be a useful and informative tool for the community.”

Photos can continue to be uploaded to the iNaturalist app until the end of October.

Friends of the Bluff will assist with any enquiries in uploading photos at [email protected]