How to identify living things with your phone

Learn how to use the free phone application called ‘iNaturalist’ to identify plants and other living things. (Download it from your App store now). Free printed introductory guides to using iNaturalist and the Atlas of Living Australia will be available, as well as free tutorials and tips to help you get started. These are  being offered by the volunteer guides at the garden, and Coffs by Nature, . Find us at the cafe tables inside the garden entrance. The tutorials generally only take 15 minutes and the guides will offer as many as needed between 9am and 1pm. You can then go practice your new identification and discovery skills on the plants at the garden, and maybe also on some insects or birds. What you find and record at the garden on the iNaturalist app will also help with the citizen science Great Southern Bioblitz’ program which is an annual event for cities and towns in the southern hemisphere – recording the amazing variety of living things in their regions. This runs from Friday 24th to Monday 27th November. See the iNaturalist Australia’ website for more about this program and to join the Coffs Harbour online community for this project. Coffs Harbour is usually up near the top of the leader board for the number of species recorded during the bioblitz, compared to all other Australian towns and cities. There will also be an exhibition of photos of birds and other wildlife living in the garden and updates on what the volunteer fauna survey/nocturnal guides team have been discovering in the latest botanic garden fauna survey.