In preparation for the Wattle n Gum Bush Dance (June 27) and the Paluma Winter Market (June 28), we require help to prepare food, cook and serve at the two sausage sizzles.
Any donations of baked items, cakes, biscuits, scones, whatever your signature dish, and preserves for the PDCA run stall would be appreciated. We’ve had some wonderful and delicious creations at previous markets that sold very well. Please let someone on the PDCA committee know if you can help out in any way at these two events.
With the opening of the range road, the annual Wattle n Gum Winter Solstice Bush Dance and BBQ is back on the Paluma Calendar.
It will be held at the Paluma Community Hall on Saturday, June 27th. This is one of our most popular events of the year, and there is always an eager group of dancers and bush music enthusiasts to encourage the band. It will be great to see all the locals come along to enjoy an afternoon of dancing and laughter. The band will have a caller to teach everybody the dance steps – so no excuses about not knowing the dance steps or having two left feet, everybody, young and old can have a great time! The BBQ will start at 12 noon with the band commencing at 1pm.
From Ross Murray, who has been in contact with TMR regarding length restrictions.
Hi All,
I have been advised of the clarification for larger vehicle/trailer configurations requesting access on the Paluma Range road. Any resident or contractor seeking access with a vehicle/trailer combo which is longer then a 4×4 + box trailer requires prior approval from the Northern Engagement Engineers. We have been advised that an email to the Northern Engagement Team (engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au) is required, which will be forwarded to the TMR Engineers for approval.
We are to provide the dimension of the vehicle plus trailer combined. The length x width; weight of trailer including the equipment being carried. The least disruptive times for transporting of equipment will be advised during the approval process. This is due to the varying tasks and restrictions each day carried out by CMC contractors.
TMR are recommending that those seeking access should have prior experience or skills in navigating the Range Road. The approval will be determined by TMR Engineers, though email contact will be provided from the Northern Engagement Staff.
It was brought to my attention that there are a number of residents (including myself) wishing to hire High-Lift Tree Pruning Equipment. This equipment hire will definitely require prior approval for Range Road access, due to a trailer being 5.5 m in length, and weighing over 3 tonnes. It was suggested the back road access to Paluma maybe required or considered with this equipment. I advised that it would not be a viable option due to the varying conditions of the road, and the extra costs for fuel and equipment hire.
The Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) is the least common of the three robins that are regularly recorded around Paluma village, but it is the most widely distributed. It occurs from Cape York to southeast Victoria in rainforests, eucalyptus forests and a variety of adjacent habitats, as well as parks and gardens. As with many of our Australian robins, it has a bold plumage. It’s not quite as spectacular as the scarlet or red-capped robins (a different genus) found further south and west, but its brilliant yellow and grey attire easily attracts the eye as it perches on a low branch surveying the ground for edible fare.
Two subspecies of the Eastern Yellow Robin are currently recognised. Our Paluma residents belong to the subspecies E. a. chrysorrhos, and we ancient birdos called them Northern Yellow Robins back when they enjoyed full species status. Now they are called Eastern Yellow Robin (Wet Tropics).
Eastern Yellow Robins are mostly sedentary. They feed on insects and spiders, and while they sometimes hunt on the ground, glean prey from bark or foliage, or make aerial sallies after flying insects, they most often pounce from a branch perch 1-1.5m above ground.
My most recent encounter with an Eastern Yellow Robin came while manning a Paluma Push checkpoint on the road behind Paluma Dam. While madly swatting March flies, Juanita and I were tasked with ensuring the exhausted riders didn’t stray off the track when it crossed the road. I kept seeing movement at the edge of my vision and finally discovered that a robin had positioned itself on a branch just behind me, waiting for slapped flies to fall writhing to the ground, and then swooping down for a free snack.
I’d brought my digital camera with me to photograph bike riders, but this proved to be my best photo of the day.
The common name Robin applied to the European Robin has an interesting origin.
Robin Redbreast
During the 15th century, the English had an endearing practice of granting common human names to the birds that lived among them. Virtually every bird in that era had a name, and most of them, like Will Wagtail and Philip Sparrow have been long forgotten.[1] Polly Parrot has stuck around, and Tom Tit and Jenny Wren, personable companions of the English countryside, are names still sometimes found in children’s rhymes. …
The English also gave their ubiquitous and beloved orange-bellied, orb-shaped, wren-sized bird a human name. The first recorded Anglo-Saxon name for the Eurasian Robin was ruddoc, meaning “little red one.” By the medieval period, its name evolved to redbreast (the more accurate term orange only entered the English language when the fruit of the same name reached Great Britain in the 16th century). The English chose the satisfyingly alliterative name Robert for the redbreast, which they then changed to the popular Tudor nickname Robin. Soon enough, the name Robin Redbreast became so identified with the bird that Redbreast was dropped because it seemed so redundant.
While Robins were first named in England, as European naturalists started exploring and collecting around the world they applied this name to several unrelated groups of birds. Thus we now have:
Old World Robins (Europe, Africa, Asia) – These include the English robin and relatives – They are related to Flycatchers and share the same family (Muscicapidae)
American Robins (Americas) – These include the American Robin – They are actually thrushes (Family Turdidae)
Australasian Robins (Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, SW Pacific Islands) – These all belong to the Family Petroicidae and include all three Paluma robins – They are an ancient offshoot from the original Passerine (perching birds) lineage, unrelated to either of the above groups.
Firstly, thank you for the update of the Paluma Range Road permit access. On behalf of the PDCA, we find it very disappointing to see the new length limits announced in the latest update (March 29,2026). This amounts to very significant restrictions for residents needing to bring equipment up the mountain for maintenance purposes. A large proportion of Paluma residents use 4wd vehicles and trailers to bring gear up the range road for repairs, regular maintenance to dwellings and transport of green waste to the local depository etc. Most 4wds are approximately 6m long and a medium sized (8×5) box trailer adds another 6m. If tradies are asked to come up to carry out work in the village, a typical tradie’s set up would be a 4wd (6m) + medium to large trailer (6-12m).
It is disappointing that no prior consultation was attempted with the community through a local meeting, or via correspondence with the Paluma and District Community Association (PDCA). Unfortunately, there was no reasonable explanation regarding the issues created by continuing to allow such vehicles to join the piloted convoy up the range during scheduled times. Given that two of the worst affected sections of the road have been successfully stabilised during the current permit system we are surprised that the restriction was deemed necessary.
We ask that as a matter of urgency, the TMR:
Provisionally recalls the announced vehicle length limit on the Range Road;
Provides details of the specific problems that would be caused by longer vehicles and the impacts these have on: a) public safety; b) worker safety; c) timelines; d) costs; and
Meet with the community in Paluma to explore ways to minimize the impact on the road restoration project while also minimizing impact on residents.
Many in our community are frustrated with the way restrictions have been imposed on the Paluma and Hidden Valley residents and commercial operators. The Community as a whole, through the PDCA is keen to work proactively and in good faith with TMR to find reasoned and balanced solution to the issues raised above.
If reverting to the length restriction is not feasible, there might be options that would help to reduce or compartmentalize the risks, such as:
Nomination of one or more timeslots when oversized vehicles are least likely to create problems to the contractors or road users;
Nominating specific days/timeslots when roadwork would stop any activities that are affected by oversized vehicles and allow such vehicles up only on those times; and
Allowing individuals to ring up traffic control officers to determine if there is a time slot during the day when an oversized vehicle would not cause any problems.
We look forward to your response to this matter by Thursday, April 2nd.
Early mornings around Paluma are invariably accompanied by a wide range of bird songs. The most distinctive and noisy of these is produced by the Chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii), although the whipbird and the catbird run a close second.
Chowchilla calls recorded by Andreé Griffin
Chowchillas are endemic to north Queensland, with two subspecies: O. spaldingii melasmenus occurring from near Cooktown to the Daintree, and O. spaldingii spaldingii ocurring south of the Daintree to the Paluma ranges. They are found in rainforests mostly above 450m. Chowchillas don’t vocalise much during full daylight hours, but its not hard to spot them as they run along the ground across, or next to village tracks, or reveal themsleves as the rustle through the leaf litter. Male and females both have handsome plumage, with the rich rufous throat of the female being particularly striking.
Male (top) and Female (bottom) Chowchilla. Photos taken by Brian O’Leary at Paluma in 2012.
Chowchillas forage on the forest floor, scratching leaves and debris to expose small insects and other invertebrates in the leaf litter, as well as the odd small lizard or frog. They are sometimes joined by other bird species such as the Grey-headed roobin, Whipbird and Yellow-throated scrub-wren who will take advantage of the disturbed litter to find food for themselves.
Male Chowchilla calling. Photo by Peter Cooke
Chowchillas are well known to form social groups, usually comprised of a mating pair accompanied by male offspring from the last few nesting years. Occasionally unrelated maies will also occasionally join the group. The group jointly defends a territory with all individualls participating in the well-known vocal chorus of rythmic warbles to warn off adjacent family groups. Each group has its own distinct song dialect. The status of the Chowchilla social behaviour is somewhat controversial. Group territoriality is not uncommon in Australian birds (eg Babblers), but in most cases it has been shown that they assist in rearing offspring of the main breeding pair that they are usually related to (cooperative breeding). However in Chowchillas no direct assistance in rearing has been observed in any of the non-breeding group members. An alternative explanation for the evolution of group formation and persistence in Chowchillas is that by assisting in defending the group territory, they enhance the security of food resources that the breeding pair will use to raise offspring.
Chowchillas are one of three species in the genus Orthonyx (log-runners). The other two are found in southeastern Australia and New Guinea.
The name Chowchilla was used by the Dyirbal Aboriginal group and is presumably onomatopoeic. Many local settlers adopted this name, although it was more frequently named the northern Log-runner in early bird guides. (See here for a short article on some other rainforest birds whose aboriginal names have been rediscovered)
Text by Jamie Oliver, Photos by Brian O’Leary and Peter Cooke
