Posts – Page 42 – Paluma – our village in the mist

What’s Flowering at Paluma – Pastel Flower or Love Flower

On a recent trip up the Paluma Range Road local resident Jodie spotted the beautiful flowering herb below, growing along the roadside in deep shade towards the top of the range in the general area of Mountain Creek.

This is the Pastel Flower, also commonly called the Love Flower (scientific name Pseuderanthemum variabile).

It is described as a ‘small soft herb’ which grows in shady damp places, often near creeks or along gullies. It is said to be common and widespread in warmer rainforests from southeast New South Wales to Cape York in Queensland. In North Queensland it can be found growing at higher altitudes up to 900m. The plant grows only 15 to 30 cm in height and produces small heads of delicate flowers. The flower colour is variable, but most often they are white with a sprinkling of darker (purplish) spots on the lobes. It flowers over the spring and summer months. The opposite leaves are lance-shaped and often have a dark red blush on the under side.

Well spotted Jodie and thanks for sharing the Love (Flower)!

(References: Australian Rainforest Plants III, Nan & Hugh Nicholson 1991 and Native Plants Queensland Volume 1, Keith A.W. Williams 1979).

TMR Range Road Survey Works

Paluma Rainfall Update

Barry Smith, our weekday BOM rainfall recorder has kindly provided an update on the rainfall at Paluma for 2022, or lack thereof!

For the month of February we recorded 130.4 mm of rain, bringing the yearly total since 1st January to 484.4 mm.

So, if you were thinking it’s been a pretty dry ‘wet season’, you are right. But, this is one time I won’t be complaining about the lack of rainfall in the north, not when our friends and families in the southeast are dealing with disastrous floods.

A quiet night, with a luminous discovery

The inaugural Paluma After Dark walk around the Village occurred after several hot and dry days and my expectations for sighting of larger vertebrates were not high. There was a group of 5 including Julie Bligh, Juanita and two day-visitors (Russel and Joel) from Townsville who decided to delay their return in order to join us. Our brief walk took us out along the Witt’s Lookout track for ~100m and then to McClelland’s Lookout and the lower car park before returning to Potters Park via Lennox crescent.

There was plenty of eyeshine to be seen reflecting back from our torches, but they were almost exclusively from small wolf spiders roaming the ground in search of prey, and various moths resting on leaves. There were no frogs calling and only a few crickets faintly chirping. We were buzzed by several small insectivorous bats swooping past the street light at the back of Lennox Cr, but they were too fast-moving to identify.

Andi Cairns made a suggestion in the post for this event that we should bring UV lights to look out for fluorescent lichen, and Juanita was able to scrounge up 4 small lights from COVID RAT tests we have purchased. These were great fun to use on leaves and trunks, revealing distinctive red colours to the undersurfaces of some leaves and complex multicoloured patterns on trunks. No distinctly fluorescent lichens were found, but the highlight of the night came when Julie noticed that one of the thick smooth green vines that occur along village tracks (White Supplejack) was glowing brightly in the UV light and looking like some otherworldy snake winding its way up to the forest canopy. Words can’t really do it justice so I hope the picture shows why it was it was so memorable.

A White Supplejack Vine (*Ripogonum album*) fluorescing under UV light

You can never tell what interesting things will present themselves when you go out into the rainforest so I encourage everyone to come along on our next night walk in about 2 months. UV torches will be part of our standard kit from now on!

Text and photos by Jamie Oliver

Return of the Hercules Moth?

We have had two previous posts in 2020 and 2021 celebrating observations of the world’s biggest moth (Coscinocera hercules) here in Paluma. This wet season there have been two further reports from Michele Lando and Barry Smith. Comments from previous posts suggest that this striking moth used to be quite common in Paluma some twenty years ago but are now a rare sight.

Perhaps the local population is on the rise? It is plausible that the proliferation of preferred food plant (Bleeding Heart trees – Homalanthus novo-guineensis) around Paluma since cyclone Yasi (2011) has provided an increase in the food source for the caterpillars. There are some empirical data to support this notion. A quick look at records from the Atlas of Living Australia shows the number of records of the Hercules Moth in Queensland has increased substantially since about 2011, which is the year that Yasi hit Queensland.

*Recorded observations of Hercules Moth (primarily in Queensland) since 1991.*
*Source: Atlas of Living Australia*

This type of observational data needs to be interpreted very carefully, however, since it is also possible that the increase since 2011 is simply due to an increase in the number of people recording observations in the popular iNaturalist app.

If you see any more of these wonderful creatures around Paluma, please let Michele Bird or Jamie Oliver know.

Text by Jamie Olver, Photos as indicated

Bush Walk to Platypus Hole and Forgotten Falls

Wilfred Karnoll and the Townsville Bushwalking Club would like to invite any interested Paluma residents to join a Bush Walk to Platypus Hole and Forgotten Falls on Sunday 6th March 2022. The details of this event and information has been provided by Wilfred below:-

When: Sunday 6th March, commencing at 8 am.

Where: Meet at 8 am at 24 Mount Spec Road, Paluma (Wilfred’s place).

What to Bring: Day pack with water bottle, food and snacks, sun screen, swimmers, a pair of sandshoes or crocs to wade across the creek (if you don’t want to get your hiking shoes wet) and camera/phone to take some memorable photos.

Cost: $5.00 per person to cover insurance with ‘Bush Walking Queensland’ as a temporary member for the day.

Booking: Please book with Wilfred, the team leader for the walk on Mobile 0447 822 626.

The walk starts at Clapham Junction on the Paluma Dam Road. From there we follow an old logging road on a ridge line between Williams and Echo Creek before turning off to drop down into Williams Creek to visit Platypus Hole. If we’re quiet we might see one of these elusive critters that give the big pool its name. We cross the creek and then proceed to the base of Forgotten Falls, which should be flowing nicely after the recent rains. Time for a swim and something to eat. We then climb to the top of the Falls, the brave ones can try a spot of rock scrambling, or you can follow the bush track beside the Falls. From there it’s an easy walk up to Chick’s Road and some waiting cars to return to the village. Whilst the walk is over some rough terrain, it is not too strenuous and not a full day walk, so anybody of a reasonable fitness level will be able to do it. It’s a great opportunity for Paluma residents to explore one of the little treasures in the area. We should be back in Paluma by mid afternoon, depending on walking speed.

Paluma After Dark Club

Saturday Night, 8 pm, Potters Park. Bring a torch

For a small community, Paluma could be said to have a fairly active schedule of evening events throughout the year, but on most nights the village is pretty quiet – in terms of human activity. However this statement belies the fact that our village and surrounding forest have a very active and often noisy nightlife.

Over the last year or so, following the lead of my son Michael, I have been taking nighttime walks through the village local tracks to see what I could see and hear. With the help of a head torch, binoculars and a frog call recording app on my iPhone I have been able to identify most of the more common and easily detected animals.

Common sightings include bandicoots, Pademelons, barred frogs (on wet nights) native rats. Less common to rare, and mostly not yet seen by me at night are Dingos, pythons, nightigers, Feather-tailed gliders, Possums, and even (over a decade ago) a spotted-tailed quoll.

Common sounds include 2 species of frog (again on wet nights), the thumps of unseen Pademelons retreating into the forest, and the piercing buzz of cicadas (as yet unidentified), Babook owls and Lesser Sooty Owl

Not every evening walk results in a sighting, although after heavy rain, frogs are just about guaranteed. And of course the tiny gleaming eyes of wolf spiders and the ever-present sound of cidadas mean that no night walk is without signs of life.

I am keen to continue to go on a regular night walks around the village and perhaps along the road out to the Dam this year. I invite anyone who is interested to join an unofficial “Paluma After Dark Club” and spend an hour or so every couple of months to see what we can record and discover. The inaugural walk will be this Saturday evening (February 26). Meet at Potters Park opposite 27 Lennox Cr at 8 pm.

Bring a head torch, preferably a bright one that can be focused to a narrow beam. Binoculars are also surprising useful to identify mammals and night birds once they are in the beam of a spotlight.

If the first event garners sufficient interest, we might also consider bringing some experts on specific groups up to give us a talk and a guided walk.

Text and Photos by Jamie Oliver

Works Planned for Paluma Dam Road

On Monday (21 February) I heard a media release that the next stage of road upgrading works are soon to commence on the Paluma Dam Road. The following information has been sourced from the Townsville City Council website for the information of Paluma residents and users of both the Paluma Range Road and the Paluma Dam Road. For more information please contact Townsville City Council or Mendi Group direct.

Date published: TCC Website 18 February 2022

Townsville City Council has contracted local business Mendi Group to undertake the second stage of repairs to sections of Paluma Dam Access Road which were damaged during the 2021 wet season.

Council has received over $540,000 in funding under the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to undertake the works.

Council Infrastructure Services Committee chairperson Kurt Rehbein said the first stage of the works were completed in late-2021 as part of Council’s annual maintenance of the road.

“Stage two will involve more detailed works to repair significant damage to a number of sections of drainage along the 11 km dirt stretch,” Cr Rehbein said.

“The works will include the addition of a new layer of gravel along the length of the road, or resheeting as it is commonly known.”

“Mendi Group will conduct the remediation works, which will support approximately 20 local jobs.

“The road will remain open for the duration of the works, however there may be some minor traffic delays and we thank the community for their cooperation and their patience as this work is completed.”

Works start next week and are expected to take three weeks, weather permitting.

Chinese New Year & the Year of the Tiger

The Chinese New Year was celebrated last Saturday evening at the Paluma Community Hall (19 February). The Hall was decorated with beautiful hanging Chinese lanterns as friends and neighbours gathered to mark the occasion with an amazing smorgasbord of Chinese dishes. Paluma’s cooks once again rose to the occasion with dishes to rival any restaurant in town. There was Vietnamese (Chinese) pork, Mongolian lamb, spring rolls, noodle salad, dumplings and of course, fried rice.

Many attendees embraced the theme of the night. The most impressive costume was Kathryn’s beautiful royal blue outfit, made by her own hand from Chinese silk. She was definitely the best-dressed on the night looking regal and resplendent. Some attendees acknowledged the ‘Year of the Tiger’ by wearing whiskers, furry ears and even tails.

The ‘Year of the Tiger’ painting kindly donated by Jennie Robinson was won by ‘Lucky Lynn Hyland’. We sold $128.00 worth of raffle tickets, so a big thank you to Jennie for her fund-raising donation and to Paluma residents for supporting the raffle.

A great deal of fun and laughter was had on the night. Thank you to Beth and Jim for kindly donating some fantastic decorations for the Hall. Barman Les excelled in his role as always and worked up a sweat over the course of the evening. Bruno locked himself out of the house before the evening was over, and was assisted in gaining entry by several surprisingly proficient ‘cat burglars’, one such burglar complete with furry ears and tail.

It’s never a dull moment at Paluma and Saturday night was no exception……!

Have you seen the Metallic Starling…?

Calling all Paluma bird-watchers……last weekend I twice sighted small flocks of Metallic Starlings (Aplonis metallica) amongst the rainforest trees in the village (mostly at the western end of Lennox Crescent).

There was no mistaking these birds as Metallic Starlings. They have a stunning black glossy plumage with a greenish and purple sheen and brilliant red eyes. They are a medium sized bird with a longish tail. No chance of a photo as they move like lightening in what is described as ‘small and fast moving flocks’.

This is the first time I have sighted these Starlings in the village, although as a relatively new resident (6 years at end of July) I wonder if other bird observers have spotted these birds on a more regular basis?

My research indicates that the Starlings arrive from New Guinea to breed in Northeastern Queensland in August and then depart again in March, which means they may be busy feeding on rainforest fruits before flying north for the cooler months?

Metallic Starling. Image reproduced from ebird.org

Post by Michele Bird