BioBlitz Home - Survey Overview - Detailed Program and Booking - Our Survey Leaders
Read about the survey areas that we have planned for you. For each area, you will find at least two survey options in the program.
Birds
Join local bird experts to survey the terrestrial birds and beach birds of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. Terrestrial birds will be surveyed with binoculars using standard BirdLife Australia protocols (2-hectare, 20-minute surveys) in four habitat types (e.g. savanna woodland, monsoon vine thicket, mangroves and coastal grasslands). Beach birds will be identified and counted using specialised telescopes at a known roost at Binybara/Lee Point using protocols developed by the BirdLife Top End Migratory Shorebird Monitoring Program.
Ants
Join local entomologists to survey the ground-dwelling, arboreal and subterranean ants of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. Participants will first go into the field to collect invertebrates captured in specialised traps previously set up in grassland, savanna woodland and monsoon rainforest habitats. Under the supervision of scientific leaders, participants will use microscopes to sort, photograph and identify collected specimens at the BioBlitz Base Camp. Some specimens will be prepared for accession into MAGNT’s entomology collection.
Bats
Join local bat experts in surveys of the microbats of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. Activities include (a) surveys using handheld ultrasonic bat detectors to identify bat species on the basis of echolocation calls and (b) observing leaders checking harp traps designed to catch and collect bats. Participants will have the opportunity to see microbats up close while basic measurements of collected bats are taken by leaders. Bats will then be released near their site of capture.
Small mammals
Join local wildlife biologists to survey the small mammals of the savanna woodlands of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. In the early hours of the morning, participants will check a series of specialised traps for small mammals such as northern brushtail possum, northern brown bandicoot and black-footed tree-rat. Basic measurements of animals will be taken before their release on site. Camera trap imagery will be reviewed afterwards at the BioBlitz Base Camp.
Reptiles and Frogs
Join local herpetologists to survey the diurnal and nocturnal reptiles and frogs of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. Morning surveys will include visual searching for dragons, monitors and snakes and hand searching of microhabitats (e.g. rocks, logs, leaf litter, bark) for cryptic or inactive taxa such as small frogs, geckos and skinks. Nighttime surveys will be conducted by torchlight and include visual searches to spot active reptiles (e.g., skinks, snakes), as well as eye-shining for geckoes and frogs. Participants will have the opportunity to observe reptiles and frogs captured by leaders up close before release on site.
Vegetation
Join local plant ecologists to survey the savanna woodland of Casuarina Coastal Reserve. Vegetation surveys will be conducted in rectangular or circular plots using survey techniques commonly used to describe and classify vegetation across the Northern Territory. Participants will be involved in (a) assessments of cover and height; (b) measurements of tree diameters; (c) identification of flora species; and (d) preparation of voucher specimens for taxa that cannot be identified in the field. Data will be used for conservation initiatives underway in the Reserve.
