The annual Paluma Garden Competition is just around the corner with the judging to take place between Monday 25th November and Wednesday 27th November. The judging will be done by Bunnings staff, with Bunnings also kindly donating some vouchers for the winners.
The judges will be accompanied by a member of the PDCA or a local Paluma resident during the judging. If you do not want your garden included in the competition and/or you do not wish the judging team to enter your property, please send an email to Lynn Hyland at:- lhyland@optusnet.com.au
The winners of the Garden Competition will be announced at the last social for 2019 at the Tropical BBQ on Saturday 7th December at the Community Hall.
The Garden Competition is hotly contested every year, so now is the time to get out in the fresh air and spruce up your patch of paradise ready for the judging. Despite the recent hot and dry weather, a short stroll around the village on Sunday morning (10/11/19) revealed many beautiful blooms amongst the village gardens (and some stiff competition from the neighbours!).
Gardeners, start your mowers and get your secateurs ready………! Here’s a few photographs of current blooms to give you some inspiration.
A stunning mass planting of Asiatic liliums on Lennox Crescent.
Clivia hybrid in a shady spot in the garden.
Agapanthus varieties are just starting to bloom. Purple & white varieties are common in the village.
One of many mass plantings of hippeastrum lillies around the village.
The Chameleon variety of Tibouchina is bursting into flower and should be at its blooming best in a week or so.
A stunning Gladioli in the prize winning Gumburu garden.
In recent weeks the Satin Bower Birds of Paluma have been busy with the breeding season and courtship rituals. Male birds have been chortling and calling in the canopy and busily working on their remarkable bowers to attract a female mate.
This year I am lucky enough to have a bower in my own garden. (And I am going to brag about it!).
My bower was constructed over a period of about two weeks and not long after it took form, the blue trinkets and treasures started to appear. A quick inventory last Sunday noted the following:- 2 x bottle tops, plastic straw, surveyors tape, 4 x pen lids, lolly packets, cellophane, half a peg, electrical cable ties and plastic cord. All the items are of a similar shade of bright blue. None of the items observed in the bower have been collected from nature.
While the hard work and ingenuity of these birds in constructing their bower and decorating it with a variety of blue treasures is to be truly admired, it is very disconcerting to see that every item in this bower is made from plastic.
Is this a remarkable adaptation of the satin bower bird to the modern world, or a sad indictment of the intrusive impact of humans in every facet of the natural world?…….I can’t decide.
Wilfred and Suzanne at Mount Spec Road have a beautiful spider orchid in full bloom at present (Dendrobium tetragonum var. giganteum). The orchid is growing on the bark of a large tree and it is a rather small and inconspicuous plant – that is, until it is in flower. It currently has multiple delicate blooms which are spider-like in shape.
Spider orchids have distinctive four-angled stems. They generally grow in mountain rainforests, on tree trunks and often near watercourses. The flowers can be up to 10 cm long with attractive markings. The flowers are greenish to yellow in colour with prominent red to purple blotches. Spider orchids flower intermittently from April to November.
Further Reading: Lavarack, B. and Gray, B. (1992) Australian Tropical Orchids. Frith & Frith Books, Malanda.
Substantial winter rainfall at Paluma over the past few weeks has meant that conditions are still rather wet and boggy round the village and in our gardens. While many of us are keen for things to dry out a bit so we can get into the garden and prepare for spring, the local frogs appear to be relishing the damp conditions.
In my garden there is a small, but apparently permanent population of very handsome brown/coppery coloured frogs that like to inhabit both the leafy garden and the back veranda. They especially love living inside the foliage of pot plants on the verandah where it is cool, shady and damp. I finally managed to capture a photograph of one of these frogs last weekend.
In consulting Clifford and Dawn Frith’s book on ‘Australian Tropical Reptiles and Frogs’, I have tentatively identified this frog as the ‘Green-eyed Frog’ (Litoria [serrata] genimaculata).
In describing the Green-eyed Frog, the Frith’s note that it is tropical species confined to rainforests in Australia and New Guinea. They note that this species has evolved to be a master of disguise as it can transform its colour and shape to closely match its microhabitat. It has developed rows of small pieces of skin (lappets) along the edge of its limbs – these can be seen in my photograph on the front and hind limbs. The lappets obscure the normal frog outline, or contours of the body, making the animal more difficult to see amongst its usual habitat of rainforest and vegetated creeks (and my garden).
The Green-eyed Frog is highly variable in colour, with the body usually a shade of brown, reddish-brown or copper, with irregular darker patches. There is usually a dark or russet larger colour patch between the eyes – this patch can be seen quite clearly in my photograph. These frogs grow to an average length of about 65 mm.
Another reference book, Tyler and Knight’s ‘Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia’ notes that the upper half of the frogs iris is green (hence the common name). This I cannot discern from my recent observations or my photograph – but next time I see a Green-eyed Frog in my garden I will be sure to look deeply into its eyes!
In response to last weeks post regarding flowering Camellia’s at Paluma (see Post from 3 July 2019), Glenda and Nick at Mount Spec Road have shared a photograph of their Camellia now flowering in their award-winning garden.
The deep pink ruffled flower is large for the size of the young plant. We originally featured this flower in a previous post in June 2018. The young Camellia shrub is still thriving and this winter has produced multiple blooms measuring some 15 cm x 15 cm. The large flowers appear incongruous with the size of this plant.
Do you have a flowering Camellia or other special plant in your Paluma garden that you would like to share with other gardeners? If so, please email a photograph to mbird09@bigpond.com
Many gardens at Paluma have a Camellia or two, and this time of the year they burst into flower with the blooms lasting for many weeks, often until spring. During a walk through the village you will notice a variety of Camellias amongst the village gardens, with blooms of many shades and flower shapes. Two gardens at 27 and 29 Lennox Crescent have many well-established Camellia trees with some remarkable blooms in all shades of pink, white and red. Some of the flowers are shown below.
Camellias are hardy, easy to grow plants which are native to eastern and southern Asia. There are several hundred species of Camellias and up to 3,000 hybrids. They are rewarding plants to grow, especially at Paluma where they thrive in the cool mountain air and the acidic soils.
Everyone’s heard of the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, but have you seen Paluma’s Green Brick Road?…………Ok, so it’s not a road, but it is a winding driveway in the brightest shade of green!.
At No. 13 Lennox Crescent the paved drive-way is covered in thick green moss, which at certain times of the day and at differing lights appears to be fluorescent green.
While many Paluma residents lament the endless cleaning of mould, mildew, algae, lichen, moss and many other creepy-crawly plants and organisms from inside and outside their homes, the moss at No. 13 Lennox Crescent is a great example of how attractive these spreading, growing mediums can be.
Residents John and Kay report that numerous attempts over many years to clean the moss from the drive-way have proved fruitless. The moss always regrows and it has won out in the end. Now, they just leave it to grow and thrive in the damp cool mountain air. In places, it forms a dense mat of green and is spongy under foot to walk on.
The drive-way at No. 13 Lennox Crescent is no ordinary drive-way. John says that this access track was first cleared by the Americans during World War 2. John and Kay paved the drive-way some 30 years ago with recycled bricks they got from other Paluma residents, Chris and Merle.
If you follow this ‘Green Brick Road’ you will just end up at John and Kay’s place, but next time you take a walk along Lennox Crescent take a moment to admire their unique and very green moss-covered drive-way!
Among the colourful visitors to my garden recently was this beautiful female Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly, (Papilio aegeus). This species is also known as the Large Citrus Butterfly because of the preference of its larvae for feasting on citrus leaves. The butterfly feeds on the nectar of plants, particularly lantana. This one however was resting on a flower-laden choko vine.
The Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly is found
in Eastern Australia, ranging from Victoria to Cape York and into PNG. Its usual habitat is lowland rainforest, dry
eucalypt woodlands, orchards and suburban gardens so it is not common to see
one here in Paluma. The female lays eggs
on the underside of leaves of host trees and the eggs hatch a week later. The larvae are patterned in green, brown and
a creamy colour and look remarkably like bird droppings: no doubt an excellent
camouflage from potential predators.
The female with a wing span of about 105 to
110 mm is slightly larger and more colourful than the male but both attract
attention when fluttering through the garden.
This butterfly is sometimes considered a pest because of its habit of
feeding on citrus leaves in suburban gardens.
Some recent, and unexpected encounters with Red-bellied (or Common) Black Snakes have prompted me (Colwyn Campbell) to write this article about the slithery reptile. I regularly meet these creatures in my garden and whilst out walking. My most recent encounter was last week at 7.30 in the morning after a night of heavy rain.
I was sweeping leaves off the front veranda and had left the door open so that Flossie (my dog) could follow me out. Becoming aware of activity behind me I turned to see, between me and the door, Flossie engaged in a vigorous pas de deux with a very large red-bellied black snake. Without thinking, I used the broom to drag Flossie close enough to grab her by the collar and throw her inside the house, while at the same time trying to fend off the snake and foil its apparent intention of entering the house. I then leapt inside and slammed the door. Poor thing – it probably only needed a warm, dry place to escape from the cold and rain-sodden garden. But I didn’t want it inside my house! I watched it coil up near my firewood box, then promptly rang my neighbour (Len Cook) who sent the snake on its way by turning the hose on it. This is the largest red-bellied black snake I have seen in my area so naturally, I am concerned that Flossie does not meet up with it again.
The red-bellied black snake is so much part of the Paluma rainforest environment that most of us take its presence for granted. Gardeners know to make a few thrusts with a rake to move snoozing serpents away before starting to weed the garden, but what do we really know about these beautiful (but to some, evil and rather terrifying) creatures?
Red-bellied black snake basking in the sun in a Paluma garden (Photo by Jamie Oliver).
The red-bellied black snake is a member of the Elapidae Family – venomous snakes with fixed poison fangs at the front of the upper jaw. They occur mostly in the tropics, however the red-bellied black snake ranges through much of south-eastern Australia and up to the Atherton Tableland, inhabiting well-watered areas such as woodlands, swamps, creeks, river banks – and Paluma gardens. Its preferred diet is frogs and small lizards, but fish and small mammals may also be included on the menu. A handsome creature, growing to an average of 1.25 metres, the snake’s sleek, glossy black scales shimmer on the upper surface, while the underbelly can vary from a brilliant red to a pale, creamy pink.
Although the red-bellied black snake’s venom is capable of causing significant illness, fatalities in humans are rare, its bite being less venomous than other Australian elapids, such as the king brown snake or taipan. The venom contains neurotoxins, myotoxins, coagulants and has haemolytic properties. Fortunately, the red-bellied black snake is not an aggressive species and will move out of the way rather than face an unpleasant encounter. When provoked, it will assume a striking stance, hiss loudly and flatten the neck and body in a display that is mostly bluff.
That Flossie has not been bitten during the course of her many confrontations with black snakes is proof to me of their docile nature.
Red-bellied black snake at Paluma (Photo by Jamie Oliver).
Snakes entered Australia millions of years ago from Asia, probably when the continental land masses were still joined. Two main groups of Elapids developed – one group comprised small nocturnal species with specialized feeding habits; and the other group, larger snakes, diurnal (active by day) and with more general diets. This group includes some of the deadliest snakes in the world: brown snakes, black snakes and taipans.
Live-bearing arose in two different lineages of Australian elapids. In one lineage, only a single species is viviparous: the common red-bellied black snake. It is alone among its closest relatives in bearing live young and because of this was able to expand the range of the genus into cooler, south-eastern parts of the country, whereas most egg-laying elapids such as taipans and king brown snakes, are found in warmer or tropical regions.
In bearing live young the female has the advantage of a shorter pregnancy. Eggs retained inside the mother’s body are kept warmer and develop faster than eggs laid in the earth, where in cold climates a low soil temperature impedes development of the embryo, even to the extent of preventing hatching before the arrival of the frosts of autumn. Live bearing benefits the young: enabling them to be born much earlier in the season, thus allowing them to feed and find shelter before the colder weather arrives. The baby snakes are born in a clutch of between ten and twenty, each encased in an amniotic sac from which they emerge within a few minutes ready to fend for themselves.
Black snakes like to maintain a body temperature close to 30 degrees Celsius. Many factors will determine how quickly a snake heats up: the intensity of solar radiation, wind, air temperature and the amount of the snake’s surface that is exposed to the sun. They can regulate their temperature by selecting a warm or cool position to lie, often by moving only a few centimetres, from lawn to beneath a shrub, for example. The snake can position its body so that only a small part is exposed but the warmed blood will carry heat to the rest of the body. If food is scarce, the snake benefits by being inactive and cool rather than expending energy and heat by hunting.
In spring, black snakes emerge and bask in the morning, heating up rapidly. They maintain their optimum body temperature all day even though the air temperature may drop below 20 degrees. In summer however, they generally do not bask, even if the morning is cool and their body temperature is quite low. Rather than heat up immediately they choose to remain cooler. Black snakes are actually cooler when the weather is hotter.
Pregnant females bask longer than non-pregnant females as warmth accelerates development of the embryos and is advantageous to both the mother and the young. An interesting observation is made by herpetologist Rick Shine (whose excellent book Australian Snakes: A Natural History, I have delved into for most of this information regarding black snakes). He describes the gathering together in summer of small groups, of two to six pregnant females when near to giving birth. They share a common night-time retreat, usually a burrow, and emerge together in the morning to bask. Female black snakes in late pregnancy do not feed so they remain in the vicinity of their burrow for weeks.
Although tending not to roam far from their own territory during the year, males in the spring mating season may travel up to 1 km in a day in search of a female. That is when you are most likely to come across one on the Paluma walking tracks!
Snakes have an undeservedly bad reputation, starting from the Biblical serpent who tempted Eve, to the wicked Mrs Black Snake who menaced Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Other cultures have revered the snake and for many it was regarded as a symbol of knowledge and wisdom. Next time you come across a red-bellied black snake in your garden, pause and admire it for the beautiful and complex creature it is.
Article by Colwyn Campbell
References & More Information:
Rick Shine – Australian Snakes: A Natural History and Graeme Gow – Complete Guide to Australian Snakes.
This drawing of a red-bellied black snake in 1794 was said to be the first scientific illustration of an Australian snake. (Image reproduced from Zoology and Botany of New Holland (1794) from an article on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-bellied_black_snake).
A young Riflebird displaying on the ‘stump’ at No. 13 Mt Spec Road
Well, it was a sad day on Sunday 31 March 2019 at No. 13 Mt Spec Road, Paluma. I have to report that the world famous stump and the dancing perch for many a Victoria’s Riflebird over nearly two decades – is no more. The tree trunk finally succumbed on Sunday morning to the natural elements, wood rot and ongoing decay, to collapse beyond repair.
The story goes………….
When Andy and Ann Bishop built the cedar cottage at No. 13 Mt Spec Road nearly 20 years ago they wanted to maintain as many of the native rainforest trees as possible on their ‘bush block’. They felled only enough trees to allow them to build their dream house amongst the rainforest.
Don Battersby reports that it was about 2004, well after the house was completed that one of the sizeable trees close to the house presented some problems. As the tree continued to grow, the foliage was intruding onto the roof and the verandah. Andy decided to lop the tree, leaving only the tree trunk standing – some 5 metres tall with a flat-top within arm’s length of the verandah.
It was not too long before the local Riflebirds noticed this purpose-built, elevated dancing platform in the canopy. Thus, it soon became a hive of activity for performances and courtship rituals during the breeding season (July-December). Every year since, countless birds have displayed on this stump and it continued to be visited and utilised – right up until it collapsed last Sunday.
Adult male Riflebirds regularly used the stump for their courtship displays.
The stump at No. 13 has been a draw-card for locals, visitors, bird enthusiasts and photographers from around Australia and the world. Brian O’Leary’s superb photographs and video of the Paluma Riflebird’s courtship rituals were captured on this very stump. (These images are included on the Birds of Paluma DVD). Indeed, some years ago Sir David Attenborough called in at No. 13 to view the Riflebirds.
Many a leisurely Sunday morning at No. 13 has been (pleasantly) interrupted in the early hours by enthusiastic bird photographers dropping in to see if the Riflebirds are displaying on the stump!
Quite remarkably, I made the decision to buy the house at No. 13 largely based on this stump! It was a rather chilly Sunday morning in May 2016 when I first visited Ann and Andy to look at the house. I walked onto the verandah and soon after my arrival the Riflebirds landed on that stump and started displaying. I decided there and then that this was the house for me! At that stage, I had not even been inside to look at the interior of the house. Quite an expensive stump really….!!
It was about 18 months ago that it became clear that the tree trunk was virtually hollow and that it was succumbing to wood rot and decay. With the expert assistance of Don Battersby and Brian O’Leary (who were lamenting its inevitable loss as much as I was) we undertook some repair and remediation works. Don put a strong steel brace around the tree trunk, attaching it to the verandah to provide some much-needed support and stability. This worked well for a year or so. Riflebirds continued to use the platform, even though the dance floor was getting smaller and the trunk had started to wobble quite considerably when the dance moves became too frantic or enthusiastic.
The steel brace that Don placed around the tree trunk for support during its decline.
In more recent times and especially since the relentless rainfall this wet season, my frequent inspections had revealed that further repairs would be fruitless. It was going, going, going and on Sunday the tree trunk collapsed at the base. It was gone.
Beyond repair…….
But this story doesn’t end here…….
The search is now on for a replacement tree trunk. With the help of a certain local timber-cutter we hope to find a 5 metre tall straight and solid tree trunk that we can erect and secure in the same place. Our mission is to have the new ‘dance floor’ prepared, installed and reinstated before the commencement of the Riflebird breeding season in June-July.
Once it’s in place, we plan to host Paluma’s first ever ‘stump-warming ceremony’ – to officially welcome the Riflebirds to their new performance platform in the canopy at No. 13 Mt Spec Road.
