Our Master of Games, Peter Klump has announced the next Paluma Games Night starting at 6pm on Saturday August 17th at the Community Hall.
The evening will start with a sausage sizzle dinner ($3.00) at 6:00 pm with the bar also open for the purchase of drinks and Linda’s famous mulled wine. By 7:oo pm, the teams of two will have been announced and the various games will commence. These will include darts, indoor bowls, ping pong, and soccer pinball to name a few.
Previous years have proved a great success with lots of friendly participation mixed with bouts of enthusiastic competition. There are probably a few residents looking to topple the previous winners in some categories so the spirits will be high. Hope to see you there!
Our next Paluma working bee will be THIS coming Saturday August 3rd. We will meet at the Community Hall at 2pm. We will be spreading gravel along the parking area at the front of the hall so please don’t park there. Bring a wheelbarrow, shovel and steel rake if you have these items. All good if not, most importantly, bring your willing hands and smile. Drinks to follow on the hall verandah at 4pm.
Our monthly Social Drinks evening is THIS coming Friday, August 2nd at the Community Hall. The bar opens at 6pm. Come and mingle and catch up on the latest. Locals and visitors alike are all welcome. The darts board will be set up so you can hone your darts skills in preparation for our upcoming Games Night. Nibbles to share are always welcome.
… AND there’s visual proof collected from camera traps set up in a range of places in the forests in the Paluma Range area. Please read Wren Mclean’s (project leader and researcher) update on data recently analysed.
A multi-year study of the cassowary across Paluma Range is underway and has returned some exciting early results with images of at least 7 individual birds so far. On the tail end of the Wet Tropics, the Paluma Range holds the most southern population of these iconic, cryptic, assertive and very cool birds. These ancient ratites are the original rainforest gardeners, having evolved to their current form 50 million years ago! They have spent that valuable time in symbiosis with the rainforest, consuming the fruits and dispersing the seeds of rainforest plants. They depend on the rainforest and the rainforest depends on them.
A male cassowary captured on one of the ‘camera traps’ in the Paluma Range.
Having lost a majority of their rich fruiting lowland rainforest habitat to human endeavours, sadly, our much-loved Southern Cassowary is an endangered species. Some inhabit poorer fruiting high altitude forests and those that remain on the lowlands are susceptible to road strike, dog attack, pig competition and the challenges of habitat fragmentation.
We can rejoice that cassowaries are breeding in the Paluma Range with a pair of stripy chicks accompanying their Papa in November and two young sub-adults travelling together in December 2023.
We know cassowaries here are in low density but was this always the case? More information will help us put the pieces of the jigsaw together to understand their seasonal habitat use, whether there are threats we don’t understand and actions we can take to secure cassowaries for the long-term.
There’s cassowaries in dem dere hills, but are they using the lowlands and coastal vine thickets? A citizen science program is calling out for any historical or current sightings or signs of cassowaries from on, or below the Paluma Range.
Two sub-adult cassowaries captured on a ‘camera trap’ in the Paluma Range area.
Please record your sightings on this URL https://arcg.is/1vjLaq or by scanning this QR code.
The ‘Back Up’ crew arriving at Check point 1, Paluma Dam
The annual Paluma Push in the bush is over for 2024 and was a really successful event for all involved. Sam and Aline’s crew and the local volunteers ensured as smooth a run as possible for all participants. Members from our community who manned checkpoints along the various routes enjoyed one of Paluma’s perfect blue sky winter days. Some of volunteers saw quite a bit of action whilst others simply pointed the way. All were acknowledged and appreciated by many of the entrants as they passed by.
These ‘tykes on bikes’ were keen to get pedalling. Great to see the older ones as support at the back of the mob.
These 70km entrants were all smiles as they came through Check point 1.
It seems it was a more health conscious group this year as Wilfred says the PDCA Bar at Hidden Valley didn’t sell as much as usual. Regardless, the approximate profit for the fabulous efforts of the PDCA volunteers was around $2000. The PDCA is VERY grateful to those who made the time to enjoy the atmosphere which is always fantastic down at the finish line and who put time into service through helping out at the bar. The ‘heavy lifters’ involved in the set up and pack up of the bar are especially deserving of our gratitude.
The Legend who rode this bike in the 42KM was too fast for this photographer to catch in action!
We have some barstock left over for those needing to drown their blues (pardon the pun) after the ‘big game’ between Qld and NSW. We are willing to sell at cost price to our community members. Anyone interested in buying any of these are to contact Wilfred on 0447 822 626. The following sixpacks are available as of the publication of this post:
5 x Jim Beam & cola $23 each
2 x Jack Daniels & cola $29 each
8 x Bundaberg rum & coke $23 each
16 x Coopers pale ale $15
Very proud of this ‘Wise Wizard’ finishing his first 53km in The Paluma Push.
Our next Paluma working bee will be THIS coming Saturday July 6th. We will meet at the Community Hall at 2pm. Drinks to follow on the hall verandah at 4pm.
Our monthly Social Drinks evening is THIS coming Friday, July 5th at the Community Hall. The bar opens at 6pm. Come and mingle and catch up on the latest. Bring along some nibbles to share if you’d like.
One of my favourite common birds along the village tracks and gardens is the Brown-capped Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps longirostris), often simply referred to as the Emerald Dove. It is most conspicuous when taking flight from the ground to stay ahead of walkers on a track or cars on the range road, when the flash of its leaf-green holders catches your attention. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for seeds fruit and insects. It is not too perturbed by humans and often prefers to simply walk away. I have one or two doves in my garden that regularly lead the way as I stroll up my drive-way.
Photo by Brian O’Leary
Emerald doves are usually monogamous and form long-term pair bonds. The male has a distinct white shoulder patch and a small grey patch on the crown that are mostly lacking in the females. They breed at the end of the wet season and build a simple stick nest 5m up in the trees.
When it feeds quietly on the ground it is often inconspicuous, only revealing itself when it takes flight with a flash of its emerald wings. (Photo by J. Oliver)
The Brown-capped Emerald Dove was originally considered to be the same species as the Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica), which is found in SE Asia (with a rare subspecies on Christmas Island). Some bird field guides still refer to our species as C. indica.
Wattle ‘n’ Gum hitting their stride in this country hall
The PDCA wishes to thank everybody for their efforts last weekend, helping out at the annual bush dance and the Markets.
Music and dance bringing joyous folk together
There were those generous with their time who were manning stalls, making cole slaw and slicing onions, cooking and serving sausages, cooking and baking for our cake and preserves stall, running the bar and stalls, setting up and cleaning, purchasing products and helping out in other ways to make it a great success.
Paluma’s very own “Jam Corner”
Our treasurer Wilfred Karnoll has banked $1600 (with a few expenses to come out of that) but it still leaves a healthy profit for the PDCA and the community. GIVE YOURSELVES A BIG PAT ON THE BACK!!!
Text by: W. Karnoll (minor edits, J. Poletto) Images: Jill Meads
This article (with minor edits) was published as “Paluma in the Clouds” in the Rollingstone Rag June edition.
The iridescent midnight blue of a mature male satin bowerbird. Photo by J.Oliver
The Satin bowerbirds, a common resident in the village at this time of year, have been numerous and active. The bower in our front garden has been freshened up by a male satin bower bird and is once again decorated in fresh blue pieces to attract the many local females. There is much competition and amorous calling ensuring the bower birds of both sexes work up a large appetite. The glorious shiny black males and stripy legged females come into our bird feeder keen and hungry. I’ve counted ten on some mornings, jostling for space to snatch a tidbit.
A newly renovated bower with all the expected blue accoutrements. Photo by J. Poletto.
There have been two new welcome upgrades to our community. Firstly, we’re grateful to the Townsville City Council for providing a doggie poo bag dispenser next to their bins near the community hall. Locals and visitors alike will be most appreciative of the facility. Also, there has been a recent upgrade to our telecommunications by Telstra and we now have 5G on the mountain.
The doggy poo dispenser is conveniently located next to the council refuse bins near the hall.
Talking about wagging tails… WaG…aka The Wattle and Gum Bush Band will be providing a fun afternoon of bush dancing and music in the Paluma community hall on Saturday June 22nd from 12pm – 4pm. The PDCA bar and BBQ will be open from 12pm with the bush dance starting at 1pm. A gold coin donation for entry to the dance is requested. It will be great fun for friends and family and a brilliant way to warm up on a chilly day. Many locals have enjoyed this event and highly recommend it.
Wattle n Gum in full throttle last year at the hall. Photo by A. Brown.
Our upcoming June Market on Sunday 23rd of June is one of our most popular of the year. As usual, the sausage sizzle will be running and stalls with baked goods and preserves (all homemade), crafts, art, fresh produce and many other items will be open to punters from 9am to 1pm. There is also the possibility we may be treated to some folk music from members of the infamous Wattle and Gum bush band. Fingers crossed they won’t be worn out from the dance the day before. It promises to be a market with fabulous atmosphere and goodies, but you may need to don your beanie as it could be a little chilly. Also, any locals available to help on the day, please contact Wilfred Karnoll. Your support for our community events is much appreciatedand essential to its success.
Don in the ‘driver’s seat’ of the PDCA BBQ during a previous market. Photo by J. Poletto
From June, the Paluma History Display will be changing its opening times to the public from a Wednesday to every Saturday from 10am to 12pm at the Paluma Community Centre when there are no other events requiring the hall. Entry is free and tea/coffee will be available.
