Thank you all for making Friday’s walk so enjoyable and Field Natterish. My head was spinning with all the ideas it devised about recording the time we spent at Bluetts. As there were eucalypt discussions going on Lesley has kindly sent a record from August 2016. (Both the Native Plant Society and CBR Ornithologists’ Group have Wednesday walking groups).

Another pleasant surprise was this post from Jean Casburn on the Bluetts Facebook page: At the front gate of Bluetts Block, Alice Wells and I came upon all these unexpected cars, and wondered who has come into Bluetts? As it turned out approximately 22 members of Canberra Field Naturalists Association were out for a walk to see what they could find on Bluetts Block. It was inspiring for me that we met Jean, Alice (Wells), Con Boekels and Maddie as they are the core activists behind the campaign to have Bluetts declared part of Canberra’s reserve system… I’d only ’seen’ them via Zoom previously. Since then literally hundreds of people have joined the FB Group and the ranks of those amateur naturalists, citizen scientists and professional ecologists who have contributed to the species list for Bluetts and the directly threatened Deferred Block 12 for which the developers have sought an Environmental Impact Study exemption.

Blewetts or Bluetts?

Rainer Rehwinkel provided some clarification on the spelling of the name with the following: Aubrey Blewitt owned a block that included part of the now Bluetts Block (in fact, the deferred zone was the only part of Blewitt’s block that is now part of Bluetts Block). Somehow, Blewitt changed to Bluett in some misspelling by ACT Government officials. The conservation Council has been discussing coming up with a new name for the reserve when it is declared, possibly of Ngunnawal origin. By the way, geographical names do not have apostrophes.

– Rosemary Blemings