Well, if you have been following Lynda Radbone’s updates from the Thrike-Shrush nest in her fig tree there is some very BIG news to report. It has been a hive of activity at the nest today – Wednesday 14 December. Here’s what happened in the space of a few short hours this morning as photographed and reported by Lynda…….
(1). 7.57 AM. Lynda rechecked the date of birth (hatching) of the chicks. They are 10 days old today. Two of the chicks (the larger ones) have their eyes open. The nest is getting very crowded as the birds grow. Lynda is worried the chicks are going to push each other out of the nest. It’s getting to be a tight squeeze in there. The constant chirping of the chicks is lovely to hear from the verandah. Mum and Dad Shrike-Thrush are run off their feet with the feeding. ‘Chirpy’, ‘Cheep’ and ‘Tweety’ (as named by Lynda) are thriving and the predatory cat birds have stayed away. (2). 8.04 AM. There is some ‘unrest in the nest’ as the wide-eyed growing chicks hustle for space in the nest.(3). 8.12 AM. There is movement out of the nest as the larger chicks start hopping up on the branches of the fig tree.(4). 8.33 AM. A maiden flight by one of the chicks is unsuccessful. Lynda puts the chick back in the nest (for protection from predators). There were several more attempts to fledge with crash landings each time. Lynda keeps watch and puts the chicks back in the nest for safe keeping when predatory birds are around.(5). 10.12 AM. By now the two larger chicks have fully fledged and left the nest. Only one chick remains in the nest, the smaller of the three. This chick appears to be weaker and its eyes are not fully open as yet. Lynda hopes that this chick is not abandoned!(6). 12.00 PM. Some five attempts later, the remaining chick finally gets lift off and leaves the nest. It’s off and away into the nearby forest.
At about 12.15 PM, Lynda realises she’s an ’empty nester’. She hopes that the universe takes care of her wee fledgings and keeps the catbirds and other predators at bay. All is unusually quiet in the fig tree on the verandah.
Following on from our previous post on 9th December regarding the Shrike-Thrush chicks at Lynda’s place. At about 7 to 8 days of age, the chicks are thriving in the nest. They are growing steadily and just look at those wing feathers!
Some exciting news from Lynda Radbone’s garden in the central sector of Paluma Village. A few weeks ago a pair of Shrike Thrush birds started nesting in Lynda’s fig tree. After some frenetic nest building, some eggs appeared in the nest to be closely cosseted by Mum and Dad Shrike Thrush. Earlier this week, the eggs hatched and there are three splendid and very hungry chicks in the nest. Lynda continues to monitor the nest to guard the chicks from hungry Catbirds, with the help of Miss Molly the dog. Lynda has kindly shared these photos of the progress of this little feathered family.
1. Sitting on eggs in the nest nestled amongst the fig tree branches.
‘The Passage of Seasons’ Book Launch took place last Friday evening (18 November) at the Drill Hall Studio in North Ward, Townsville. Colwyn Campbell was joined by family and friends from all over North Queensland and beyond to celebrate the launch. Peter Cooke provided a splendid introduction and opening speech which is reproduced in full below (with permission).
We’re here tonight to launch a book in which long time friends Colwyn Campbell and Di Lucas generously share with us their experiences and thoughts generated by their deeply shared passion for the natural world.
Through the pages of “The Passage of the Seasons” we are privileged to join the life journeys of Di in the savannah of the NT’s Top End and Colwyn in the cloud forest of Paluma.
This is a book of many parts. It is a nature book, but a very special nature book in which people, particularly the authors’ families and friends, are centrally placed in the landscapes which inspire their conversations.
Alongside scientific observations and descriptions are embedded the feelings and experiences of the observers as the seasons turn month by month ….. whether against the background of wild nature or in the cultivated nature of their home gardens.
The letter-writing form of the book is also special and increasingly rare in the digital age. The inventor of email, Shiva Ayadurai, observes that texting, SMS, chat or Twitter have destroyed letter writing. In this not-so-brave new world, wise and elegant wordsmithing has been largely replaced by the five-second video grab headline or 140-characterd micro-blogging.
The establishment of a postal service in England in 1606 allowed anyone with price of a stamp to communicate with anyone with an address.
Women were quick to take advantage of the improved logistic advantages and the creation of a private space for two people to converse across slow time and far distant space.
Linguists credit women writers of the 17th and 18th centuries with inventing a more personal, private and introspective form of letter writing, using informal styles that were conversational and spontaneous, more like speech and just as lively, vibrant and at times as playful as speech, while addressing subjects from the mundane to the profound.
Di and Colwyn have built on that tradition of style and The Passage of Seasons confirms it still works just fine in the 21stcentury.
Another ancestral influence and inspiration for Passage of the Seasons was the emergence of the genre of nature diaries, a genre not exclusively female but one which continues to resonate strongly amongst biophile women writers and their audiences.
Both Colwyn and Di acknowledge the strong inspiration and influence of the English woman writer Edith Blackwell Holden, who fashioned her Nature Notes for 1906 as a model for her students’ work while teaching art at the Solihull School for girls in England.
Edith Holden’s collection of seasonal observations, poetry, and pictures of birds, plants, and insects wasn’t even considered for publication when it was composed and it wasn’t until 1977 that her nature notes were finally published and became a world best seller under the title The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.
Other seminal sources of inspiration acknowledged by Di and Colwyn include
Earth, fire, air and water, an exchange of letters between two women artists Anne Dangars and Grace Crowley, edited by Helen Topliss.
Densey Cline’s formidable catalogue of nature books, especially the Garden Jungle
Jackie French’s ‘Seasons of content‘
’The 3,000 Mile Garden’, conversations between Leslie Land and Roger Phillips focused on their gardens on different continents
And finally ‘A Gardener’s Log’ and other books by Edna Walling which Di’s mother passed to her.
As well as these shared European influences, Di brings to The Passage of Seasons perspectives on nature and human relationships drawn from decades of interactions and friendships with the indigenous people of Western Arnhem Land.
For Colwyn, Pen Pal friendships with contemporaries in the US and the UK helped make her into a self-confessed life-long compulsive letter writer.
In the mid-20th century school children were encouraged to engage with pen friends in other countries.
Some of these formally encouraged pen-friendships were very long lasting.
In 2018 the record for a pen friendship was between Ruth Magee from Canada and Beryl Richmond in the UK who at that time had corresponded for 78 years and 160 days. They did manage to meet but only twice and only briefly.
For Di, going off to boarding school at 10 going on 11 ramped up a regular pattern of letter writing. Di and her dad exchanged letters on a weekly basis. Mum, she says, was just too busy in her garden and keeping house.
The conception and gestation of Seasons began back in Darwin some years after Colwyn and Di were introduced in Darwin in 2001 by a mutual friend, Leonie Norrington, at the launch of Leonie’s Tropical Food Gardens”, a book which Colwyn illustrated.
They found they shared lifelong interests in gardening, writing and art. They got to know one another better as Diane often called in at Colwyn’s husband’s book exchange in rural Darwin. Diane at that time was part-time teaching and already writing books for children.
Colwyn says: “I was rapt when Diane told me about a book that was germinating in her mind and asked if I would illustrate it.”
And so began their collaboration with Waterlilies, their first book together and self-published in 2007.
It was a great learning curve, says Colwyn and they were thrilled when Waterlilies received a “Notable Book” award. It has since had four reprints. This book, along with three others, are on the recommended reading list for Indigenous literacy and they have three other books in the pipeline, also for children.
So began five or six years of letter writing that has culminated in our being here tonight to launch The Passage of Seasons — a literary journey during which personal nature diaries have been folded in with intimate stories of family and friends, initally in private correspondence between Di and Colwyn across a great distance.
What the authors are sharing now is a sensory feast for all, from Colwyn’s lovingly created and charming illustrations to their mutual keen written observations and commentary on the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and touches of nature that await those who open their hearts and minds to the call of the wild.
As Colwyn says “what we hoped to achieve was something that would take the reader away from everyday worries to a peaceful mindset, not too taxing, requiring no serious level of concentration but rather to be conducive to contemplation of the natural world around us all”.
The Passage of Seasons achieves all those goals and is a magnificent celebration of nature, of friendship and lives well lived. Enjoy and share.
Text by Peter Cooke. Photos by Michele Bird and Juanita Poletto.
The 26th Annual Paluma Garden Competition will again be sponsored by Bunnings in 2022. On Monday 14th November, the judges will be accompanied by a Paluma resident whilst on your property to view your garden. It is run on the basis that all properties are entered unless you email Lynn Hyland (lhyland@optusnet.com.au) by Saturday 12th November to advise that you do not wish to participate in the garden competition. The winners will be announced at the Tropical BBQ to be held at the Community Hall on Saturday 10th December.
There’s no doubt that my place is a haven for tree snakes – especially brown tree snakes. I see them regularly in the garden, on the house roof, on the veranda (mostly dangling from the rafters), in the garage and occasionally they make forays into the laundry.
Well, now it seems that my place is such an attractive habitat for brown tree snakes that they are breeding. This rather cute, but not so cuddly, baby brown tree snake was discovered amongst the bromeliads when I was tidying the garden last Saturday (8 October). The very distinctive reddish-brown bands on the body and those enormous eyes means that the identification of this wee baby is indisputable. It was hard to estimate the length of this specimen, but it was perhaps 30 cm to 40 cm in size.
Brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) reproduce by laying clutches of 4 to 6 eggs. Perhaps I can expect to see more of these beautiful babies basking in my garden as the weather warms up. The main prey for juvenile brown tree snakes is recorded as small lizards, skinks and frogs.
Two species of shrike-thrush are commonly seen at Paluma — the Little Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) and Bowers Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla boweri). They are not easy to disambiguate even with a clear picture and a few bird books, as colour and distinguishing features vary quite a lot by gender and age for both species. The name doesn’t help as the Bowers Shrike-Thrush is smaller than the Little Shrike-Thrush.
This specimen posed for the camera on one of Jan Cooke’s tomato plants in April. Jan thinks this is probably a Little Shrike-Thrush.
The Paluma area bird list (compiled by Andree Griffin and Roy Mackay) lists the Rufous Songlark(Magalurus mathewsi) as an occasional visitor to Paluma, although its range covers most of Australia. This bird was one of a pair seen near the Community Hall in April. The Australian Bird Guide says the Rufous Songlark breeds in South Australia in spring and summer but migrates inland, or to north Australia in autumn and winter. The distinguishing ‘rufous rump’ is mostly hidden by wing feathers, but can be seen in photo 3 below.
Macleays Honeyeater(Xanthotis macleayanus) is a charming and friendly little bird endemic to the Wet Tropics and a common visitor to feed tables in Paluma. They are not shy and at places they visit regularly may perch on a hand that offers something to eat.
The Red-Backed Button Quail(Turnix maculosis) is a regular resident in the Paluma Village but is secretive, and most commonly observed exploding from cover and flying rapidly away.
This female was with a juvenile in tow across the road from the Community Hall in March, but scurried off down the back of Cooke’s place. She next appeared walking away by herself. It seems she planted the youngster under a bush and stayed in plain sight walking away to lead interest away from the bub.
