The recent “Paluma After Dark” night walk took place last Saturday night at Don Battersby’s place on Hussey Road. The walk was well attended, with 7 locals and 5 visitors. A quick tour of Don’s property revealed a few interesting fluorescing lichens and plants and several tiny prowling wolf spiders whose eyeshine seemed disproportionately bright for their tiny size.
Once into the forest behind Don’s block we were given a full tour of the track to Ethel Creek and back via Hussey Road.
Top Righ: An unidentified seedling with green leaves fluorescing bright red
Bottom Left: A common but beautiful night moth with bright eyeshine (Bracca rotundata)
Bottom Right: The jungle huntsman spider (Heteropoda jugulans is a common Paluma species
Top photos by Jamie Oliver; Bottom Photos by Juanita Poletto
Using the various UV torches on hand, we saw several glowing supplejack vines, many brilliant red tree seedlings and several spiders, including the common jungle huntsman. Several mossy logs also had a sprinkling of fluorescent bryophytes similar to ones we have previously found on the H-Track.A couple of us also heard and caught a fleeting glimpse of a native rat, but not enough to identify the species.
On the way back to Don’s, walking along Hussey road with heavy feet and flagging attention, Juanita spotted some eyeshine in a tree beside the road. Closer inspection showed it to be a sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps). Although about 5m up and partly obscured by branches it was nevertheless easy to make out the facial markings and skin folds between fore and rear legs that provide for fairly positive identification. It was a great ending to the evening and is the first arboreal mammal that many of us have seen in Paluma. As an added bonus, one of several leaf-tailed geckos (Saltuarius cornutus) living in Don’s shed came out to bid us goodbye as we prepared to leave. Below are pictures (not taken that night) that illustrate these last two species.
Right: One of the leaf-tailed geckos living in Don’s shed – taken last year
Photos by Jamie Olive
Many thanks to Don, for his enthusiasm and stamina in leading this walk.
Our next walk will be in August and will be advertised on the web.
Text by Jamie Oliver; photos as indicated
Great stuff Jamie! Wish we could have joined you on the walk! Was it the same leafy liverwort (Bazzania vittata) that you found along the H-Track? Remarkable how the UV torch picks it out amongst the mixture of mosses and liverworts growing on a (so called) ‘mossy’ log!
Hi Andi, I didn’t collect any of the fluorescent liverwort but to the naked eye it looked just like the Bazzania vittata we collected from the H-track in terms of size, morphology and it’s position as an understory plant beneath the more abundant moss.
A good find, Jamie…Thanks to UV-induced fluorescence, it seems that Bazzania vittata is more widely distributed than previously believed. How interesting!
I just enjoyed the weekend all over again, 🥰. thank you Michelle
Just one erratum. It’s actually luminescent fungi not lichen.
Thanks for your comment, Cam. I think you are referring to the image of the luminous mushrooms (Mycena chlorophos) that forms the thematic “header” for this post, but is not actually part of my post. The header image was taken on a previous night walk last year.
We did see some bright fluorescent yellow lichens last week using UV torches but I didn’t take any photos. Here is a photo taken by Jill Meads on the night.
Sorry for causing any confusion.
Jamie
What a rewarding night! Those of you lucky enough to go on these night walks are seeing a different world- it seems almost a magical mystery tour. I hope I can join you some time.