I’ve Got Worms…..!

Over the years my garage has provided a refuge and habitat for a diversity of critters, some welcome and some not-so-welcome. Regular visitors have included leaf-tail geckos, eastern water skinks, rodents of all shapes, sizes and dispositions, as well as an occasional red-bellied black snake.

Just lately I have noticed that earthworms are visiting, mostly at night. Not only I have seen worms of many sizes, but evidence of their nightly forays are left in silvery tracks and trails across the garage floor.

The mother of all worms visited last night! The photograph below shows this specimen is a giant. The ruler in the photo is a standard 30 cm or 12 inch ruler. So, she measures at least 27 cm in length. I tried to measure her girth, but she was way too wriggly to hold and measure at the same time. I estimate she was about 1.5 cm round the body.

Late evening I decided to relocate this worm to a leafy, secluded spot in the garden, hoping that she would find a safe place to settle in before the family flock of chortling Chowchillas arrived as usual to forage the next morning!

Text & Photo by Michele Bird

TMR Range Road Update – Notice of Road Closures

The Department of Transport and Main Roads would like to advise that pavement repair works will shortly occur on Mount Spec Road on the Paluma Range. Works to be completed include the removal of damaged pavement and back filling with new bitumen and surface seal.

Please see work details below.

Mount Spec Road pavement repair works 

Work duration: Monday 20 April to Thursday 30 April

Workdays: Monday to Friday (excluding Saturday 25 April and Monday 27 April 2020) 

Work hours: 6:30am to 5:30pm (road closure 9am to 4pm – long delays)

Impact on motorists:

  • A road closure of Mount Spec Road will be in place between the hours of 9am and 4pm to undertake the removal of old pavement and backfill new road pavement in the most expedient and efficient manner.
  • Motorists who travel along Mount Spec Road between the hours of 9am and 4pm can expect long delays of up to 3 hours
  • Stop/go traffic controllers will be on-site at either end of the works zone to direct traffic through the works zone. 
  • Maximum wait time for motorists on Mount Spec Road from the hours of 6:30am – 9am and 4pm – 5:30pm is 15 minutes. 
  • A 40km/hr speed limit will be maintained along Mount Spec Road throughout the duration of the works.

Road users are advised to plan their journey ahead of time around the road closures to avoid long delays and travel times. Residents are encouraged to contact TMR on the details below should they have any further enquiries about the road works.

TMR would like to thank the local community and businesses in advance for their patience during these works. 

Kind Regards

Meghan

Customer and Stakeholder Management (Northern) | North Queensland Region
Program Delivery And Operations | Infrastructure Management & Delivery Division |

Department of Transport and Main Roads

Floor 6 | Townsville Government Office Building | 445 Flinders Street | Townsville Qld 4810
PO Box 1089 | Townsville Qld 4810
P: 1800 625 648 | F: (07) 4421 8711
E: engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au
W: www.tmr.qld.gov.au

Reminder: St. Patricks Day Celebrations, Saturday 14 March

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations come early to Paluma as the real St Patrick’s Day is March 17. We are pre-empting the day and celebrating on Saturday 14 March at the Community Hall.  

The usual ‘bring a plate to share’ applies and if it is somewhat Irish, so much the better. The event will commence at 6.30 PM and the wearing of green is obligatory!

The bar will be open with the usual stock and a limited supply of Guinness in tins for those who want to get really Irish.

If you  have a few Irish jokes bring them along – Les will probably have a couple too.  A fun night is planned, so do come along !

ATTENTION: TMR Range Road Update

This email is to advise that the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) will be undertaking geotechnical investigations on Mount Spec Road from Monday 17 February through to Friday 6 March 2020.

Traffic changes and road closures will be in place during these works. Please see details below.

Services Location works: 

Monday 17 February 2020

Work hours: 10.30am to 3pm.

Traffic changes: Stop/go traffic controllers will be in place on either end of the work zone to allow traffic through works site –  all traffic (including visitors) will be allowed through the works zone.

Geotechnical Investigations (Drilling works):

Sunday 23 February to Thursday 27 February 

Work hours: 7pm – 5am (Night Works). 

Traffic changes: A full road closure is required during works. No traffic will be allowed through the works zone during these times (Emergency vehicles expected).  

Surveying works: Monday 24 February to Friday 6 March

Weekdays only (Monday to Friday)

Work hours – 6am to 5pm (see breakdown below).

6am – 9am:  Stop/go traffic controllers will be on site to direct traffic. Maximum wait time for travellers < 30 seconds.

Tour group bookings and local residents only will be allowed through the works zone.

9am – 3pm:  Full Road Closure – Tour groups, buses and residents ONLY will be let through, timing based on information provided. Residents should contact TMR on the details below for further information.

3pm – 5pm: Stop/go traffic controllers will be on site to direct traffic. Maximum wait time for travellers < 30 seconds.

Tour group bookings and local residents only will be allowed through the works zone.

A full road closure will be in place for all other visitors. Visitors will be directed to turn around at Little Crystal Creek bridge. Little Crystal Creek will remain open during the works. 

Should you have any questions regarding the above information, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.

Meghan

Customer and Stakeholder Management (Northern) | North Queensland Region
Program Delivery And Operations | Infrastructure Management & Delivery Division |

Department of Transport and Main Roads

Floor 6 | Townsville Government Office Building | 445 Flinders Street | Townsville Qld 4810
PO Box 1089 | Townsville Qld 4810
P: 1800 625 648 | F: (07) 4421 8711
E: engagement.northern@tmr.qld.gov.au
W: www.tmr.qld.gov.au

Nature Notes from Paluma

Many of you will have enjoyed reading the informative ‘Nature Notes’ contributed by Paluma’s resident naturalist Roy Mackay over a great many years. Roy’s passion was to educate people about the natural world and to foster interest and respect for our native flora and fauna. In the spirit of continuing Roy’s great work and his legacy of reporting on nature’s treasures in and around Paluma Village, we present the following notes, observations and musings contributed by long-time residents and fellow naturalists Linda Venn and Colwyn Campbell.

Linda Venn writes:-

You already know (from previous postings) about our Northern Leaf-Tailed Gecko which made an appearance at Summerhouse (No. 16) over Christmas. Well, in the same time period, we had a common Green Tree Frog trying to get in the pet flap on the back screen door. We can hear several Green Tree Frogs calling when it rains, which is unusual. When we first came to Paluma, conventional wisdom was that the only Green Tree Frogs here had been inadvertently imported in goods brought up the hill, as it was too cold for them. Well, now we have at least three just at our end of the Crescent. Maybe Paluma is warmer now than it was 30 years ago? It’s certainly drier.

Another unusual visitor is the Pallid Cuckoo. There’s been a pair around for the last few weeks. These are not often seen in Paluma, though Andree Griffin recorded one at the dam in 1971 and Roy Mackay saw one in Paluma more recently. Their flight is very falcon-like, but whether or not they are a bird of prey was not confirmed by the smaller birds – who couldn’t care less about their presence and gave no alarm calls. This is interesting, considering that the Pallids parasitise honeyeater nests.

Talking of the cuckoo group, I heard a Koel calling one night, but not since (Phew! Noisy buggers!). Must have been just passing through, as were the family group of Black Cockatoos. Also got a good look at a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo this morning; usually heard but not seen. They’re quite small and delicately barred on the chest.

Another interesting one is the Red-necked Rail/ Crake that was calling outside our bedroom window one morning, in the regrowth forest at the rear of Fatima Cottage. This lovely little “chook” was first seen in Paluma by my brother, in the backyard of Ivy Cottage in 1982. Seems to stay close to creeks and is more likely to be heard than seen. Its call is a maniacal laugh, quite disconcerting at close range before dawn!

Yesterday, we had a solitary Metallic Starling in our rusty fig (now fruiting, so we’ve had a Figbird or two as well). To see just one starling is unusual, as they usually travel in flocks. Well, this morning a small flock arrived and spent time in the fig and the regrowth between Summerhouse and Mt Spec Cottage. Their fluttering flight is distinctive. 

We also have a shy resident Tooth-billed Bowerbird who enjoys both the figs and the fruit of the walking-stick palm. He was giving his repertoire of mimicked bird calls the other evening, quite disconcerting until you realise that all those different birds are highly unlikely to be in the one tree at the same time!

Another bird that usually travels in a group is the Silvereye. We’d only seen a pair, then this morning a small flock arrived in the regrowth on the footpath.


Colwyn Campbell penned the following response:-

A few years ago, (I’d have to trawl through old diaries for the date), Linda Venn called me over to look at a bird feasting on the fruit of a rhodomyrtus in the front garden. It had been there all the previous day and it was the scolding of smaller birds that drew attention to it. It was unfazed by our presence and just kept eating, seeming determined to strip the tree.  We were puzzled because it had the distinctive markings of a cuckoo. Roy Mackay came up and identified it as a young Pallid Cuckoo. We were puzzled as its presence was unusual here; also Linda wondered what local bird would have a nest big enough to have hosted the cuckoo. 

The Red Necked Rail/Crake makes its way in the evenings along the creek area behind my house. Only twice in all the years I have been here have I seen one venture onto the back lawn. Last year I saw one at the edge of the shrubbery across from Manali. Coincidentally, that afternoon, two birdwatchers had the Rail/Crake on their ‘to see’ list and it emerged from the scrub long enough for them to take some good photos. Seven years ago near Roy Mackay’s house I found one dead on the road verge. It had evidently been hit by a car, but was almost unmarked and still warm. Roy stuffed it and it now is in the museum.

The Koel – yes, I was surprised to hear it too.

What’s Blooming at Paluma: Christmas Orchid

Calanthe triplicata (Common Christmas Orchid)

There is nothing ‘common’ about the beautiful ground orchid Calanthe triplicata currently flowering along some of the rainforest walking tracks around Paluma. Flowering specimens have recently been observed near the track to McClelland’s Lookout (off the Loop Road) and along the H-Track.

This evergreen terrestrial orchid generally grows in clumps from fleshy pseudobulbs. The plant has dark-green lance-shaped leaves with prominent parallel leaf veins. It can grown to 1 metre tall, but all of the specimens observed at Paluma are smaller, between 30 to 40 cm in height. The white flowers are borne on erect racemes at the top of the flowering stem. Flowering occurs from October to February.

The Christmas Orchid occurs in Cape York Peninsula and North East Queensland, usually in mountain rainforest at high altitude from about 700 metres to 1250 metres.

Article by Michele Bird & Lynda Radbone.

Paluma Rainfall (2019)

Over many years Don Battersby has been vigilant in recording the annual rainfall statistics at his property on Hussey Road on the western outskirts of Paluma Village.

Don has kindly contributed the following rainfall statistics for Hussey Road for 2019. The total rainfall recorded by Don for 2019 was 4205.5 mm with rain falling on 99 days of the year.

The stand-out months for rainfall were January and February with a total of 3069 mm of rain falling in these two months (equivalent to 73% of the total rainfall for 2019). In the latter part of 2019, the stand-out month for the lack of rainfall was September with not a drop of rain recorded at Hussey Road!

Are there other rainfall recordings for Paluma and surrounds?. If you have been recording rainfall at your property we would love to have your statistics!

Rainfall recordings by Don Battersby. Text by Michele Bird.