This is an urgent call for volunteers for the upcoming Paluma Push on Sunday 21 July 2019.
Len Cook from the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade is calling for volunteers from the local Paluma community to assist with the event. Volunteers are especially required for manning the various Check Points.
Len has had very little response to his previous calls for volunteers and the timing for arranging the event is becoming critical.
If you can volunteer, please contact Len Cook as soon as possible to register your interest on email:- anagama@activ8.net.au
It was a big weekend at Paluma on 29th and 30th June. The annual Bush Dance with the Wattle n Gum Band was held at the Community Hall on Saturday night with many locals and visitors dancing the night away.
On Sunday morning the weather was superb with clear blue skies and a cool breeze. A bumper crowd attended the Paluma Market and there were plenty of stalls to browse. The wares on sale included handmade gemstone jewellery, leadlight glass ornaments, original paintings, knitted and crocheted clothes, shawls, scarves, beanies and blankets, a variety of bric-a-brac, DVD’s, books, cards, plants and delicious homemade cakes, biscuits and condiments. There were bargains galore!!
Members of the Wattle n Gum Bush Band put on an impromptu performance at the playground, while members and volunteers of the PDCA sizzled sausages at the rotunda. A great morning was had by all with many people lingering to relax and enjoy the music, the sausage sizzle and the cool mountain air.
The winter weather at Paluma is beautiful and there is no better time to get out and go for a walk in the fresh mountain air with your best mate – that is, your canine companion.
Hence , this timely and friendly reminder to pet owners – Paluma residents and visitors – that dog owners are responsible for the behaviour and welfare of their animal/s at all times.
The PDCA would like to remind all dog owners that the village of Paluma is part of the Townsville City Council (TCC) Local Government Area and Local Laws regarding Animal Management (Local Law No. 2 [Animal Management] 2011 and Subordinate Local Law No. 2 [Animal Management] 2011) are applicable to dog owners at Paluma.
The TCC website provides some important tips for Responsible Pet Ownership as outlined below:-
Barking – All dogs bark, but some barking dogs become a real neighbourhood nuisance – greatly reducing the quality of life for their neighbours and increasing neighbourhood tensions. Barking dogs is the most common animal behaviour problem Council is asked to deal with. Make sure your dog is not barking incessantly and causing your neighbours distress.
Fences and Confinement – A straying dog causes distress to neighbours and the community. Dogs that are not kept safely behind a fence can risk being injured or cause injury to others. As a responsible pet owner, it is important that your fence or dog enclosure is:
– High enough so your dog can’t jump over it
– Low enough so your dog can’t dig under it
– Strong enough so your dog can’t push it over, and
– Hole proof so your dog can’t escape through it.
Pet litter – Leaving pet litter in a public place is not only unpleasant and unhealthy, it’s against the law. Council has provided dog litter bags in some public areas across Townsville. If walking in an area where bags are not provided, you are responsible to take your own bags with you and to pick up and dispose of your dog litter in an appropriate way.
Leashes and Exercise – Dogs must be leashed at all times in public places to help control them more easily and to increase the safety of other animals and people. Remember that many people are frightened or annoyed by dogs that are not leashed; you should always be considerate of other people.
Registration – All dogs, including puppies, must be registered within 14 days of acquisition or moving to the Townsville Local Government Area, and wear a registration tag. Annual dog registration costs differ depending on whether the dog is desexed or entire, and whether the owner is eligible for a pensioner concession. Annual registration and approvals need to be renewed by 31 August each year.
IMPORTANT: Remember that dogs are not permitted outside the residential area at Paluma and within any of the National Parks or World Heritage Areas. This includes the walking tracks. Most walking tracks are clearly signed to indicate that dogs are NOT permitted in these areas. Please – refrain from taking your dog to these prohibited areas in the interests of protecting our native wildlife and the environment.
For further information, the TCC Animal Management Laws can be reviewed on the TCC website. Just google ‘TCC Animal Management’.
In case you have forgotten to book this into your calendar, the annual Bush Dance featuring the band Wattle ‘n’ Gum is next Saturday, June 29 at 7:30pm. And on Sunday (June 30th) we have our Sunday Market and Sausage sizzle.
The annual Paluma Push event is taking place on Sunday 21 July 2019.
The Paluma Rural Fire Brigade is calling for volunteers from the local Paluma community to assist with the event. Volunteers are required for manning the various Check Points, parking & traffic management and numerous other tasks. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Len Cook as soon as possible to register your interest on email:- anagama@activ8.net.au
Please note that as a volunteer you will need to be available on Sunday 21 July, but also attend a pre-race briefing meeting at the Community Hall on Saturday 20 July (late afternoon). After the race, volunteers will be treated to a BBQ at the Community Hall on Sunday night and receive a free Paluma Push t-shirt.
Over the last few weeks, increasing numbers of Pied Currawongs, Strepera graculina, have arrived in Paluma. The onomatopoeic name currawong reflects the liquid, ringing tone of their call, heard all day throughout the village.
Pied Currawong
The currawong is a large, (42-50 cm long), handsome, black and white bird, with yellow eyes and a lilting, liquid warbling call. But do not be beguiled by the good looks and melodious carolling. Beneath the beauty lies a rapacious nature. Currawongs plunder the nests and feast on the chicks of other birds. The cruel beak says it all.
Currawongs are similar in appearance to magpies and butcher birds, and were once known as crow shrikes or bell magpies. They are found throughout eastern Australia from North Queensland to Victoria in diverse habitats including woodlands, coastal to alpine forests, rain-forests, scrublands and farmlands. They often form large flocks and are seasonally nomadic, ranging over large distances. In the breeding season, from July to January they are mostly seen alone, in pairs or in small family groups.
They tend to move into Paluma from the west as the weather becomes cooler. Sometimes a flock of fifty and more will move into the area. Today, I disturbed a gang of seven or eight on the roadside plotting their next raid.
Pied currawongs’ diet includes small lizards, insects, mice, caterpillars and berries. They also take large numbers of small and young birds. Larger prey, up to the size of a young possum can be taken and birds will sometimes hunt as a group. Prey may be stored in a tree fork or crack to be eaten later. It has been reported that pied currawongs eat more vertebrate material during the spring breeding season than they do during autumn and winter when berries are available. A pair may kill about 40 broods of small birds (up to 2 kg) to raise one brood of their own.
Raising young is a joint effort. Both sexes gather the material, sticks, grass and other soft vegetation, for the bowl-shaped nest which the female builds high in a tree fork. She incubates the eggs while he feeds her. The male supplies food to the female for the first week after the chicks hatch and she feeds them. Incubation time is 21 days and there are usually three chicks.
The dishes and trays of fruit put out by residents for the honey-eaters, rifle birds and other small birds have become fair game for the currawongs who swoop in, terrorising the other birds and taking all the food. They seem to be afraid of humans however and fly off as soon one appears. Perhaps they have a collective memory of being shot at or stoned by people! It was amusing, and surprising to see therefore, two rainbow lorikeets at my bird-feeder yesterday driving off a currawong. The attack was quite vicious with lots of pecking and screeching until the bigger bird retreated.
It will be no surprise to know that pied currawongs are not on the endangered species list: on the contrary, their numbers are increasing. They have adapted well to living in urban areas and their growing numbers have been implicated in the decline of smaller bird species.
Some information sourced from Google entries from Australian Museum and Birdlife
Beginning around the middle of last month (May) some of the tracks around the village had patches of colourful but strangely shaped fruit on the ground. These flattened orange to yellow fruit often have a single seed stuck in the middle. While most rainforest trees are difficult to distinguish based solely on the trunk or leaves, their fruit and flowers can often be distinctive and render them easily identified. Such is the case with McIntyre’s Boxwood (Xanthophyllum octandrum). The best example I have found (although it may now be finished fruiting) is on the H-track just uphill (towards Lennox Crescent) from the old mining test pit and creek lookout. Two mature trees stand near the track (on the left as you face uphill).
MacIntyre’s Boxwood is endemic (i.e restricted to) Queensland, occurring in rainforests from Cape York to the central Qld coast1. Flowering occurs in early summer but the flowers are fairly inconspicuous. The fruit are round, marble-sized and green to pale yellow. When ripe they split open (dehisce) while still attached to the tree to reveal a dark seed attached to the now flattened internal yellow flesh. At this stage the fruit are fairly conspicuous on the tree, and even more so on the dark leaf litter of the forest floor once they have fallen.
Two mature trees on the H-track. The trunk is relatively smooth with no buttress.
Ripe fruit are just discernible in the canopy of the two trees
The fruit is eaten by Cassowaries. The trees are slow growing and large specimens are likely to be very old. The timber has been used commercially and was commonly used to make wooden rulers.
Denim jeans, western checked shirts and cowboy hats were the fashion at the Country & Western & Casserole Night on Saturday 8th June at the Community Hall. Whilst only a small crowd of some 17 people attended this latest event on the Paluma Social Calendar, they made up for the small contingent by having a rowdy good time.
A sumptuous feast of hot and hearty home-cooked dishes meant that everyone had their fill of soups, casseroles, warm fruity desserts and carbs. The bar saw a brisk and lively trade as the guests warmed up on beer, wine and spirits of their choice.
The impromptu “Guess the Country & Western Song Competition” was blitzed by Michele who proved beyond any doubt that she is the biggest country bumpkin in the village!
Major thanks go to Jamie and Juanita for providing the music on the night and to Les and Lynn for their usual exceptional skills in organising the event.
Look at all those country & western checked shirts……..!
Photographer on the night, Sam Stedman, gets in on the action with a selfie!
