Here’s a rainfall update from Barry Smith for November and the year to date….
We have had 145 mm of rain for November 2022 with 18 days of rain this month.
For 2022, we have cracked the 2 metre mark with 2,080.4 mm so far to 29 November. Judging from the forecast, it looks like plenty more rain to come before the year is out.
Paluma’s rainfall recorders are a dedicated bunch, never missing a day in checking the gauge and recording the rainfall figures.
Special thanks go to all the volunteers for their great work in 2022, including Barry Smith for recording the week day rainfall, with back-up assistance when required from Tracy Cooper and Rick Roveda. Peter Cooke and Michele Bird do the recording on the weekend. Other keen volunteers step in from time to time when called upon. Great work everyone in keeping these important records for our little village in the mist (and rain).
‘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.
A reminder that Colwyn Campbell will launch her new book, Passage of Seasons this coming week in Townsville and at Paluma. The official book launch takes place on Friday 18 November at 6 pm at the Drill Hall Studio in North Ward, Townsville. Everyone is welcome to attend. Paluma’s very own Peter Cooke will be speaking at the launch. For further details please see the flyer in our previous post on 8 November.
If you can’t make it on Friday night, Colwyn will hold a second launch for her Paluma family and friends at the Rainforest Inn on Saturday 19 November at 1 pm. Again, all are welcome to attend.
Orange-thighed tree frog (Litoria xanthomera) Photo by Jan Cooke
This Saturday’s night walk was very well attended (17 people) and provided lots to see, especially in terms of fluorescent wildlife. We started off the walk with a rousing solo vocal performance from one of my resident orange-thighed tree frogs, with distant vocal back-up from numerous nursery frogs and one or two robust whistling frogs.
As we started our walk around Lennox Crescent the glow worms formed an unmistakeable series of “fairy lights” along one of the exposed earth banks beside the road.
Brilliantly coloured fluorescent lichens were the most common organisms visible with our UV torches, with an amazing diversity of colours shapes and patterns on trees, logs and even mailboxes!
Top left: Fluorescent lichen on a tree. Top right: various hues of fluorescent colours emtted by moss, fungi and leaves. Bottom: Candlevine (Pothos longipes) fluorescing brilliant red under UV (left) compared with the normal grren colour seen using dead torches. All Photos by Peter Klumpp
More fluorescent lichen, Even a plain old mailbox(right) looks like a work of art from the psychdelic ’70s at night under a UV torch (centre) All photos by Jamie Oliver.
Supplejack (Ripognium album) Photo by Peter Klumpp
Along the track to Witts Lookout we also saw some great examples of the sinouus blue fluorescing supplejack vines.
For the first time we also found two different animals exhibiting fluorescence: a small snail and a worm (not photographed).
The normal array of small nocturnal spiders, crickets, millepedes and moths were also seen. I also had a fleeting glimpse of what was probably a bandicoot hopping across the track as we returned along the Witts lookout track.
Moths, millepedes amd snails were also seen. Top Left: a nocturnal moth. Top centre: Paluma dark banded snail (Steorra jimfergusoni). Top right: a rainforest out grazing on rotten wood and lichen. Bottom: A small Camaenid snail whose body emitted a beautiful blue fluorescence under UV. Top center and top right images by Jan Cooke. Other images by Jamie Oliver
There seems to be a consistent difference in fluorescent and luminous flora between the H-Track and Witts Lookout track. Witts track had very few logs covered with the fluorescent liverwort (Bazzania vitatta) although it is very common on the much of the Lennox Crescent and back sides of the H-Track. Also there seem to be fewer luminous mushrooms. One of the group pointed out that the micro-climate on the H-track is more sheltered and humid compared to the Witt’s lookout track, which follows an somewhat exposed ridgeline that slopes steeply down to the coast. This seems a very plausible explanation. A few of us finished the night’s walk by going down the start of the H-track in order to see the large log that consistently puts on a gorgeous fluorescent display. It did not disappoint us!
The now well known “Blue Log” on the H-track Photo by Peter Klumpp
Last Thursday, I did an evening walk around the H-Track with two prospective new residents (John and Anneshka) and we were rewarded with the sounds of three frog species and superb views of fluorescent liverworts and luminous mushrooms. Some of the mushrooms were bigger than I have previously seen (2-3cm caps) and we even discovered some tiny fluorescent mushrooms. The recent rains up at Paluma have definitely livened up the forest and there is more substantial rain predicted later this week, so the prospects are good for an interesting night walk this Saturday (with little rain predicted on Saturday). Some of our endemic Paluma snails are almost certainly going to be out grazing and there is always a chance of seeing a Bandicoot or Pademelon.
This time we will head to McClellands Lookout and then along the track to Witts Lookout. Earlier this year, on a night walk along this track after heavy rain, large portions of the forest floor as well as entire dead logs were completely aglow with luminous fungal mycelia so we could be in for a substantial light show.
We will meet at Potters Park on Saturday at 7pm. Bring along a head torch and UV torch if you have one.
Since coming to Cairns from Paluma, I am learning to identify a slue of plants and birds endemic to this region of the tropics. One rainforest tree however, was familiar to me, as it would be to most North Queenslanders: the Black Bean, or Castanospermum australe. It is native to the east coast of Australia in Queensland and New South Wales and to the Pacific islands of Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Britain. The Castanospermum belongs to the Fabaceae family and has the distinction of being the only species within the genus Castanospermum.
It is a handsome tree, growing up to 35 metres with fairly dense foliage of compound leaves, but the brilliant vermilion and yellow sprays of pea-like flowers are what make this tree so spectacular around this time of year, (September-October). It was a bright carpet of dropped flowers beneath the tree that drew my attention to it. The flowers are followed between March and May with large pods which split to reveal 2 to 3 large brown seeds weighing about 30 grams each. The canoe-shaped pods are easily recognised. The seeds are hairless and reminiscent of chestnuts and look quite appetising; but woe betide anyone who samples one that has not been properly prepared.
The seed is highly toxic. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos eat them but I know of nothing else that does so. Eating one causes vomiting, diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain and dizziness and can be serious if urgent medical attention is not sought. Sawdust from this tree can cause dermatitis, eczema and nasal irritation. The leaves and seeds are poisonous to live-stock.
However, the seed is a highly nutritious food source and the Indigenous people of the North Queensland coastal rainforest devised a sophisticated way of rendering the seeds safe to eat. This involved a sequence of steps which include, roasting the seeds overnight in a ground oven, slicing and mashing, placing in a dilly-bag to leach in running water, and finally pounding the seeds to a flour-like powder.
As far as I know, the poisonous compound in the Black Bean is as yet, unknown. Many of the rainforest trees have chemicals which could potentially be used medicinally and the Castanospermum was mooted as containing chemicals which could be used against AIDS.
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.
It was wet and cold but good weather for frogs and snails
The inclement weather probably accounted for the fact that Juanita and I were on our own last Saturday night and even we decided to take a shortened walk via Lennox Cr to McClelland’s lookout. However, the rain certainly didn’t discourage two groups of nocturnal animals that love moist weather. The robust whistling frog (Austrochaperina robusta) was calling continuously all around Lennox Cr.
This small frog is seldom seen (I have never seen one!) but is one of the most familiar nighttime sounds around Paluma whenever the weather is wet. We got within half a meter of several calling individuals but they were very well hidden. Another common frog around Paluma that is very noisy but highly secretive is the southern ornate nursery frog (Cophixalus ornatus). It too could be heard during the walk but much less frequently and as usual we did not see one (although I did spot one once in my garden last year). Have a listen to the calls below and see if they sound familiar.
Although it was not calling on Saturday night we did spot our resident yellow-thighed tree frog hanging out near our concrete wash-tub pond at home at the end of the walk.
Our resident orange-thighed tree frog (Litoria xanthomera)
The other group of animals that reliably comes out at night, especially when it’s wet, is land snails. Australia has a very rich diversity of endemic land snails ranging from ones with full-sized shells to semi-slugs with a very small vestigial shell that they cannot retreat into and is normally covered by a layer of tissue. We saw two snail species and my best guess is that they were both locally endemic snails named after our village!
Dark Paluma banded snail (Steorra jimfergusoni)
Paluma semi-slug (Fastosarion paluma). Note the orange vestigial shell slightly exposed in the right hand image.
Using UV torches has become de rigueur on our night walks and while we did not come across any of the striking fluorescent blue liverworts that we often see on the H-Track, a couple of trees had strikingly fluorescent lichens. Juanita took several pictures and then returned on Sunday morning to get comparative daytime shots of the same patches. The difference is amazing.
Fluorescent lichen on trees under UV light (left) and during the day (right). Photos by Juanita Poletto
We will have another night walk in around 2 months time and would love some company if you are up in Paluma and feel like a night-time stroll. We always seem to find something interesting!
Text by Jamie Oliver; photos by Jamie Oliver unless indicated
This is a reminder that the next Paluma After Dark walk will be this Saturday, August 27th. We will meet at 6:30pm at Potters Park opposite 27 Lennox Cr. It could be a bit chilly and there is a small chance of rain, so bring a jacket/raincoat as well as a torch. I will have spare UV torches for anyone who is interested in looking for fluorescent liverworts or lichen. Hopefully, we will see some bandicoots and pademelons along the track.
The recent “Paluma After Dark” night walk took place last Saturday night at Don Battersby’s place on Hussey Road. The walk was well attended, with 7 locals and 5 visitors. A quick tour of Don’s property revealed a few interesting fluorescing lichens and plants and several tiny prowling wolf spiders whose eyeshine seemed disproportionately bright for their tiny size.
Once into the forest behind Don’s block we were given a full tour of the track to Ethel Creek and back via Hussey Road.
Top Left: A green suppleljack vine (Rhipognium album) fluorescing bright blue. Top Righ: An unidentified seedling with green leaves fluorescing bright red Bottom Left: A common but beautiful night moth with bright eyeshine (Bracca rotundata) Bottom Right: The jungle huntsman spider (Heteropoda jugulans is a common Paluma species Top photos by Jamie Oliver; Bottom Photos by Juanita Poletto
Using the various UV torches on hand, we saw several glowing supplejack vines, many brilliant red tree seedlings and several spiders, including the common jungle huntsman. Several mossy logs also had a sprinkling of fluorescent bryophytes similar to ones we have previously found on the H-Track.A couple of us also heard and caught a fleeting glimpse of a native rat, but not enough to identify the species.
On the way back to Don’s, walking along Hussey road with heavy feet and flagging attention, Juanita spotted some eyeshine in a tree beside the road. Closer inspection showed it to be a sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps). Although about 5m up and partly obscured by branches it was nevertheless easy to make out the facial markings and skin folds between fore and rear legs that provide for fairly positive identification. It was a great ending to the evening and is the first arboreal mammal that many of us have seen in Paluma. As an added bonus, one of several leaf-tailed geckos (Saltuarius cornutus) living in Don’s shed came out to bid us goodbye as we prepared to leave. Below are pictures (not taken that night) that illustrate these last two species.
Left: A sugar glider near the Lake Eacham looking very similar to the one we saw Right: One of the leaf-tailed geckos living in Don’s shed – taken last year Photos by Jamie Olive
Many thanks to Don, for his enthusiasm and stamina in leading this walk.
Our next walk will be in August and will be advertised on the web.
