Learn about Sharman’s Rock Wallaby..

If anyone is interested in learning more about Sharman’s Rock-wallabies – a small and incredibly agile wallaby species found in and around complex rocky outcrops across our region – come along to the community information session being held at 10am at the Paluma Community Hall on Weds 29th Nov.

We’ll be chatting about Sharman’s Rock-wallaby conservation and our fire management program at Mount Zero-Taravale Wildlife Sanctuary, and how we can target fire management to help protect this threatened species.

Morning tea and lunch supplied. Please RSVP by Friday 24th, including any dietary requirements.

Felicity L’Hotellier
Senior Field Ecologist
Mobile. 0408 084 617
Phone. 07 4770 8025
Email. felicity.lhotellier@australianwildlife.org
Taravale, Ewan Road
Paluma QLD 4816
www.australianwildlife.org

Where’s Wary? Volunteers needed to count Cassowaries around Paluma-Mt Spec

Although Cassowaries have been seen very occasionally by many of us on the roads and tracks near the village, the only one we can be guaranteed to see in Paluma is the barbed-wire sculpture of “Wary the Cassowary” in front of Wilfred Karnoll’s house. Cassowaries are an iconic and charismatic resident of the Wet Tropics, but due to multiple human-related threats, they are listed as endangered. As many of us can attest Cassowaries are not easy to spot, even when there are nearby, and getting information on population numbers in different areas is very difficult. A new project to fill in this gap has recently commenced and the researchers are looking for volunteers to assist them in their work, or to provide any additional local knowledge that could help their assessments. This project is being conducted in conjunction with BirdlifeAustralia’s “Birds with Altitude” program, that is monitoring a range of Endangered and Vulnerable species in the Wet Tropics.

If you would like to volunteer for these projects, or would like to learn more about the issues they are addressing, please come along to the Launch event at the Paluma Community Hall on August 25th. There will be a catered dinner (donations accepted to defray costs) at 6pm and presentations at 7pm and organising volunteer teams at 8pm. For catering purposes please register if you intend to come to the dinner and think you want to volunteer. Any residents just wanting to learn more are welcome come to the presentations. Surveys and training for both the Cassowary and Birds with Altitude citizen science programs will then be held over the 26th and 27th.

To register follow this LINK. Further information below:

Paluma Range Citizen Science Program Launch & Camp Out

Join with researchers, locals, BirdLife Townsville & BirdLife North Queensland and bushwalking clubs to help contribute to our knowledge of Cassowaries at the southern extent of their global distribution and high altitude birds vulnerable to climate change in Paluma Range National Park.RSVP

Time and location

25 Aug, 1:00 pm AEST – 28 Aug, 10:00 am AEST

Lake Paluma – Magar Yamba Group Area, Lake Paluma, Crystal Creek QLD 4816, Australia

About the event

Paluma Range Citizen Science Program Launch & Birds With Altitude Camp Out

25 – 28 August 2023

Join with researchers, locals, BirdLife Townsville and BirdLife North Queensland and bushwalking clubs to help contribute to our knowledge of Cassowaries at the southern extent of their global distribution and high altitude birds vulnerable to climate change in Paluma Range National Park.

The only targeted surveys for cassowaries on the Paluma Range were for the faecal DNA wet tropics populaton analysis (Westcott et al 2014). No scats, signs or sightings were recorded during that study however, the extrapolated population estimate for the area was 16 adult birds. The Paluma Range however contains 22,050 ha of potential habitat and birds are sighted here semi-frequently. So let’s track them down to add to our body of knowledge about the distribution, abundance, habitat condition and threats to Cassowaries here. Please download the Birdata App on your phone.

Camping @ Lake Paluma – Magar Yamba group camping area or self-arranged B&B accommodation at Paluma Village.

Friday evening welcome, presentation and dinner @ Paluma Community Centre, 65 Mount Spec Road, Paluma.

Friday, 25 August

1:00 pm campsite open @ Paluma Community Centre – Nywaigi Welcome to Country.

6:00 pm catered dinner.

7:00 pm presentations on Cassowary and Birds with Altitude programs. Organise survey teams and locations.

Saturday, 26 August

AM survey designated routes.

PM review camera trap data. Self-catered.

Sunday, 27 August

AM survey designated routes.

PM review findings & camera trap data. Sunday night camping optional. Self-catered.

Monday, 28 August

AM survey optional.

Checkout by 10:00 am.

Funded by a Qld Government CSA – Threatened Species Grant and Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Supported by BirdLife Townsville, BirdLife Australia, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, NQ Dry Tropics NRM and Girringun Aboriginal Corporation and thank you to the Paluma Community Centre for gifting in-kind support of the community centre for the Friday evening.Read moreRSVP

Community Working Bee – May

Last Saturday’s Community Working Bee (6 May) was attended by Colin, Anneshka, Julia, Ian, Don, Charlie and Wilfred. The main focus of the Working Bee was to continue the track upgrading and drainage work on the Rainforest Walking Track. This centrally located track allows walkers of all capabilities to experience our rare and special Wet Tropics Rain Forest. It is a 600 metre long track constructed with steps and viewing platforms. It even has a new park bench made from recycled plastics installed at the halfway mark along the track.

Jamie and Juanita continued cleaning up the corner of Mt Spec Road and Loop Road to make visible the previously overgrown signage directing visitors to McLelland Lookout and the various businesses and accommodation in the village.

The next Working Bee will be held on the 3rd of June and will focus on giving the Community Hall a much needed spring (or autumn) clean. Now that we are moving into the drier months we plan to attack the mould, dust and grime inside and outside the building. Come along and lend a hand, refreshments will be served after the event.

Text by Wilfred Karnoll

Another Baby Tree Snake

I have previously posted (bragged) about the haven my garden provides for brown tree snakes of all sizes (Boiga irregularis). In October 2022 I posted a photograph of a rather cute baby brown tree snake amongst the foliage in my bromeliad patch. Today I encountered another baby resting on the broad leaves of one of my anthuriums amongst the pot plants. I couldn’t resist sharing this photograph of this very handsome specimen. Check out those huge eyes….!

Text & Photo by Michele Bird

Of Swallowtails and Dutchmen

Plantings of the native vine Aristolochia tagala (aka Aristolochia acuminata) have now wrapped a sizable section of the railings at the Paluma Village Hall deck in a thick mass of large green leaves.

Somewhat hidden amongst the foliage and emerging flowers and fruit, the larvae of the Cairns Birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera euphorion) are happily munching their way towards the time they will leave the dense vines behind and move to a more open position before transforming into their chrysalis form. By the time the caterpillars are ready to pupate they have grown to about the size of a human adult’s thumb.

They need to move out of the dense foliage so they have plenty of space to unfold their damp and soft wings when they emerge in their final form as Australia’s largest endemic butterfly.

The Birdwings and some other Swallowtail species rely exclusively on the native vines Aristolochia tagala (aka Aristolochia acuminata) and Pararistolochia deltantha as the food sources for their caterpillars.

Using chemical receptors on her forelegs the female Birdwing butterfly is able to tell by “tasting” various leaves with chemical receptors on her forelegs that she has found an Aristolochia vine. At the end of her abdomen are other sense organs that help her then locate tender young leaves suitable as caterpillar food.

Aristolochia vines are poisonous, but the caterpillars of Birdwings (and other Swallowtail species) are able to use the plant poison in our native species for their own protection and so store the toxins in prominent fleshy orange-red spines on their backs.

When threatened by hungry birds (or curious humans at the village hall) the Birdwings and other members of the Swallowtail butterfly family turn toxins to their defence using an inbuilt defence mechanism anatomically referred to as the Osmeterium

The Osmeterium is an organ above the head of the caterpillar in the first body segment. If the caterpillar feels threatened, two bright red or orange horns pop out, as well as a very smelly, bitter fluid utilising the stored Aristolochia toxin.

All our Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars — the big butterflies like Cairns Birdwings, Orchards and Ulysses — have this defence mechanism.

Because of the shape of the flowers, the common name for various species of Aristolochia and Pararistolochiais Dutchman’s Pipe.

But while the Swallowtails thrive on the Australian species of these vines, a foreign species (Aristolochia elegans) is deadly for them.

The deadly form of Dutchman’s pipe imported from South America for ornamental plantings sends out the same chemical signals to the female swallowtails as our native species. They are fooled into laying their eggs on it. But the emerging caterpillars cannot cope with the stronger toxins of Aristolochia elegans and are eventually poisoned and killed.

Aristolochia elegans plants are spreading from gardens into the natural environment and are endangering the future of the beautiful Birdwings and the other Swallowtails.

Do plant native Aristolochia and help the swallowtails fill the summer skies with colour and movement …but check labels carefully to make sure you don’t accidentally purchase and plant the deadly foreign invaders.

Photos by Jan Cooke and text largely plagiarised from Google sources by Peter Cooke.

Legless in Paluma

Over the recent Easter weekend, Juanita and I went for an evening walk around Lennox Crescent. We discovered one of our local residents trying to cross the road in an utterly legless state. However, an excess of Easter cheer was not a factor in its slow progress. This particular resident was born legless, and when not trying to cross smooth packed surfaces like roads, its apodal state is a big advantage for its chosen lifestyle.

Our struggling neighbour was, in fact, one of two species of legless lizards that can be found in the rainforests around Paluma. While snakes have adapted well to rapid progress on open ground, legless lizards are mostly burrowing animals and their form is ideally suited to digging and pushing their way through soil and leaf litter, and hiding under logs and rocks. Legless lizards may sometimes be mistaken for snakes, but careful inspection shows that compared to snakes, they have: earholes (or covered depressions); long tails that are a significant proportion of their overall length; and no forked tongue.

I took several pictures of this beautifully coloured lizard once back at home and hoped to get further close-ups and naturalistic shots the next morning but it managed to escape its temporary home early the next morning, so I am left with these hand-held images. They were enough for me to be pretty confident in identifying it as the limbless snake-tooth skink (Coeranoscincus frontalis).

Photo by Juanita Poletto

This species is fairly common (but infrequently encountered) in the wet tropics. It is thought to be nocturnal and is commonly found in rotten logs or in the soil under logs and rocks. As suggested by its common name, members of the genus have relatively large recurved snake-like teeth and in a related species (C. reticulatis) stomach contents suggest it eats earthworms, beetle larvae and other insects. The sharp recurved teeth may be an adaptation to capturing and holding the large, muscular writhing earthworms that are commonly found in our rainforests and local gardens.

Photo by Jamie Oliver

Leglessness has independently evolved in at least 7 different families of lizards (and one clade of six closely related families). Most of our commonly found legless lizards in Queensland belong to the family Pygopodidae (related to geckos), however, C. frontalis is actually a member of the skink family.

A recent publication in the Australasian Journal of Herpetology has suggested that C. frontalis is actually 3 separate species that have distinct geographic distributions. The individuals that are found between Paluma and Mt Elliot have been recognized as a new species: Coeranoscincus pailsei. In case you were under the misapprehension that taxonomists are humourless nerds with no social life, check out the note from this publication on the derivation of this new species name:

The new species C. pailsei sp. nov. is named in honour of Roy Pails of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia in recognition of his many contributions to herpetology spanning many decades. Quite appropriately, I note his love of alcohol and his regular habit of drinking himself “legless” with Peter Whybrow (see above) and others, including at my wedding in year 1999, which is appropriate and relevant when naming a legless skink in his honour.
Hoser, RT (2022) Austrasian Journal of Herpetology 59:32-47

Text by Jamie Oliver; photos as indicated.

What’s Fruiting in Paluma? – Harlequin Fruit

Over the last several months, from December last year, I have found the remains of a striking fruit around the village, both on roadsides and along tracks. And more recently I have found some vines with ripe fruit still hanging prominently beside the road opposite the turnoff to McClennan’s Lookout.

Aptly named the Harlequin Fruit, Melodinus australis is a moderately common vine found in a variety of rainforests from central NSW and Eastern Queensland ranging from sea level to 1200m. It is also known as the Bellbird Vine. The genus name Melodinus is derived from the latin words “melon” (= apple) and “dinein” (= twisted) in reference to its twisted viney growth form and the roughly apple-shaped fruit it produces.

This vine, opposite the newly cleared signage area at the turnoff to McClelland’s lookout, is still bearing fruit.

The vine has elongate pointed leaves with a distinct central vein. The flowers are cream to yellow and can be strongly perfumed. The distinctive fruit are initially green and turn orange-red progressively from the distal end, but they always remain green near the area of attachment to the vine.

The genus has 23 species ranging from Indo-Malaya through Greater Australia and the western Pacific Island. They are all climbing plants that belong to belongs to the family Apocynaceae or Dogbanes. This common name refers to the fact that some plants in the family have been known to poison dogs. Harlequin Fruit, however, appears not to be particularly toxic.

The fruit are most often seen on the ground after cockatoos or other birds have fed on them. Even unripe green fruit is taken, although in this case the birds appear strip the outer skin in order to get to the inner flesh.

Judging by the remains of fruit which often litter the forest floor, Cockatoos appear to love this fruit. It is also eaten by cassowaries.

Aboriginals in the Kuranda range are reported to have eaten the fruit. Other sources on the web recommend only eating the coloured portion of the fruit and avoiding any part that exudes white sticky sap.

The harlequin fruit can be propagated from cuttings and seeds, and it will flower and fruit prolifically in large pots.

Text and Photos by Jamie Oliver

Koala Workshop at Taravale – April 19th

Did you know that Koalas can be found in the open forests west of Paluma and much of the sclerophyll forests in the eastern Queensland coastal area of north Queensland? If you would like to know more about koalas or share any sightings you have made in the region, The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is hosting a community workshop leading up to some targeted Koala monitoring later this year.

Felicity L’Hotellier, Senior Field Ecologist for the AWC is inviting Paluma residents to attend the workshop on Wednesday, April 19th. The workshop will be hosted on site at Mount Zero-Taravale’s bush camp. The day will kick off at 9am, and wrap up by 3:30pm, with informal discussions throughout the day including a round-table with those in attendance.

Attendees are invited to camp on site (would need to supply their own tents/sleeping gear), with AWC to provide basic catering from the evening of the 18th through until the morning of the 20th. For anyone interested, an evening spotlight drive and a visit to our new feral predator-free exclosure fence is also planned.

This invitation is restricted to Paluma residents and you are asked to register for the workshop before April 10th. To register or obtain further information contact Felicity on 0408084 617 or 4770 8025.

Felicity L’Hotellier, Senior Field Ecologist
Mobile. 0408 084 617 Phone. 07 4770 8025
Email. felicity.lhotellier@australianwildlife.org
Taravale, Ewan Road, Paluma QLD 4816
www.australianwildlife.org

Red-browed Finch

Red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis) are a relatively common sight around village gardens at Paluma, mostly in open areas on lawns – especially when the lawn gets a bit long and there are seed heads. They are often seen feeding on the ground where there are crimson rosellas also feasting on grass seeds. They are said to feed on both native and non-native grass seeds. They are a beautiful and distinctive small finch easily recognised by their bright red eyebrow, red rump and red beak with otherwise olive green and grey plumage. If disturbed they will quickly fly away into dense undergrowth where they are hard to spot. They are also hard to photograph as they are fast-moving little birds and they don’t sit still. The two photos below have been reproduced from the Birdlife Australia website.

Red-browed finches (Photos from Birdlife Australia website).

Over the past couple of weekends (about 8 days) I have been lucky enough to watch the progress of a pair of very busy red-browed finches building their nest in close proximity to my place. The finishing touches to the nest were being made late last Sunday afternoon and one of the birds had taken to sitting in the nest – perhaps eggs had already been laid?

The nest is located in the high crown of a native tree fern in an open (garden) area. Birdlife Australia describes the red-browed finch nest as “a large domed nest with a side entrance, woven from grass and small twigs. Nests are usually built 2 to 3 metres above the ground in dense shrubs”. This description is entirely accurate for the nest I have observed. The photo below shows the (largely) completed nest in the top of the tree fern, dome-shaped and with a small rounded entrance. The entrance faces westerly away from the prevailing winds and rain in that particular location/micro-climate. Clever little finches!

According to my research, both parents share the nest-building (which I also observed), the incubation of eggs and feeding of the young. Four to six white eggs are laid per clutch two to three times per year, mainly between October and April. Juveniles are said to be fully independent within 28 days. I look forward to observing the nesting process and hopefully the fledging of some new little red-browed finches in the coming month.

Text & Photo (of tree fern nest) by Michele Bird

February Rainfall Update

Here’s the latest rainfall figures for Paluma from the BOM recording site at the Village Green, courtesy of Barry Smith (weekday recorder) and Peter Cooke (weekend recorder). Ponder this….

561 mm of rain for the month of February

23 days of rain in the month of February

A total of 1,166.6 mm of rain since 1 January