Green Space Our Place - Our Volunteers Voice - Issue 33 - Dec 2021

Green Space Our Place OUR VOLUNTEERS VOICE

Green Space Our Place

ISSUE 33 DECEMBER 2021

FRONT PAGE: Down ‘n’ Dirty volunteers, from left, Sandy, Una, Jill, Jenny, Rhonnie and Graeme.

BACK PAGE: Heliconia caribaea ‘Purpurea’.

C O N T E N T S

• From the Editor Page 2 • 5 Years of Service Awards - Page 3 • Celebrating our volunteers and the end of year celebrations Pages 4-5 • Beautiful Barringtonia Pages 6-7 • Australian Kingfishers Pages 8-9 • Did you know? Page 9 • Prayer Plants, Bananas, Cannas and Birds-of-Paradise - Zingiberales Part 3 Pages 10-11 • Hollywood parties at the Tanks - Pages 1213 • Catching up with Friends - Pages 14-15 • Feathered Friends Page 15 • Clasping tree crickets Page 16 • Council’s sustainability team wins national award - Page 17 • The world beneath our feet: Part 6 Tardigrades - Page 18 • Ergon supports tree planting - Page 19

Editor - Volunteers Supervisor, Louisa Grandy Proof readers - Michelle Walkden Volunteers Jennifer H. Muir, Sandy Long Contributors - volunteers: Janice Pichon, Barry Muir, Jennifer H. Muir, Dr David Rentz AM, Tom Collis and John Peter.

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From the Editor Welcome, Here we are again ... at the end of another year ... has time sped up?! Each December I review what we have achieved and it has been another huge year of volunteer support - thank you!

Firstly, we must mention ‘The Green Space’ at Jess Mitchell Park, Edge Hill. With the idea of “Connecting People with people, and people with nature”, the team has developed a program that has grown steadily since it began last year with an abundance of food and its own volunteer group contributing close to 700 hours since opening in May 2020.

The space was developed as sustainably as possible by recycling waste materials to create the wicking beds and various infrastructure. It has also provided further opportunities to upskill our volunteers in general horticulture and gardening practices, and the ability to grow their own food.

Over 7,500 trees were planted this year at tree planting events at the Smithfield Bypass reveg project alongside Cattana Wetlands; reveg sites at Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Freshwater and Stratford.

Stratford Nursery was renovated last year, enabling more volunteers to attend with 26 new volunteers registered.

The regular weekly groups have steadily increased in size with the new groups, Sandpipers and Egrets, well supported and providing central locations for easy access.

Local residents continue enhancing their green spaces especially the McHugh St residents who transformed a large traffic island into a landscaped garden in their street, and Stroopers Park at Freshwater and Stratford’s Jalarra Park.

Pocket Gardens have become increasingly popular – growing vegies has proved to be a wonderful way to activate small green spaces and build community connections. There are now six active pocket gardens throughout the city.

Although I say this every year: “We couldn’t do it without you” - it doesn’t lessen how my team and I feel. We are so very grateful for your support and look forward to continuing to offer a variety of opportunities to connect people with one another and our tropical environment.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Louisa

5 Years of Service Awards Jennifer Muir

Bernie Mason

Vito Husak

Barry Muir

Janice Pichon

Lyn Mason

Robyn Ford

Cairns Regional Council celebrated the Green Space Our Place volunteers and the program success early in December with Cr Rhonda Coghlan as guest speaker and the presentation of 5 Years of Service certificates.

The program has been running since 2013 and currently has over 400 volunteers enhancing green spaces throughout the Cairns district from Bramston Beach to Palm Cove.

Each year our volunteers come and go due to various circumstances (employment, moved location), however this year alone saw 100 new registrations conducted, with a total of over 32,000 volunteer hours contributed. The feedback on why our volunteers join is mainly due to a need to connect with one another, learn new skills and give time back to their community.

5 Years of Service Certificates Jennifer Muir originally joined the Down ‘n’ Dirties, and now writes for our Weekly News, quarterly magazine and provides talks for the Volunteer Information Sessions.

Jenn is also the Membership Officer for the Friends of the Botanic Gardens (FOBG) committee.

Barry Muir originally joined the Down ‘n’ Dirties, and now writes for our Weekly News, quarterly magazine and provides talks for the Volunteer Information Sessions. Barry is also on the FOBG committee and provides Gardens Tours.

Janice Pichon began at Forest Gardens and now volunteers at the Egrets revegetation site and provides Heritage Tours for the Tanks Art Centre/Botanic Gardens

Christopher Davies

Russell Watkinson

Trevor Parsons

Jenny Parsons

Roberta Newton

Tina Yiannakis

precinct. Janice and Lyn Mason spent hours researching and writing the tour.

Christopher Davies volunteers with the Cairns Botanic Gardens Down ‘n’ Dirties group and also supports the FOBG shop.

Russell Watkinson is one the original members of the Tracks ‘n’ Trails group that repairs tracks and infrastructure on Mt Whitfield Arrow Tracks.

Bernie Mason - volunteers with the Down ‘n’ Dirties and provides Heritage Tours for the Tanks Art Centre/Botanic Gardens precinct.

Lyn Mason volunteers with the Down ‘n’ Dirties and provides Heritage Tours for the Tanks Art Centre/Botanic and Gardens precinct, and was instrumental in creating the tour with Janice Pichon.

Trevor Parsons volunteers with the Cattana Wetlands Jabirus, brushcutting on a weekly basis to support with weed control.

Jenny Parsons has been a regular volunteer with the Cattana Wetlands Jabirus, contributing to the signage suite that was installed a couple of years ago.

Vito Husak volunteers with the Jabirus, spending his time maintaining the infrastructure with a regular coat of paint.

Robyn Ford originally joined the Jabirus, and is now with the Stratford Nursery group.

Roberta Newton and Tina Yiannakis have been planting and maintaining areas of revegetation at Kewarra Beach.

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Celebrating our volunteers

Michael and Alex

Rosi and Leslie

Jude and Val

Rosemarie, Suzy and Ian Council’s Community Development Manager Brett Spencer and Cr Rhonda Coghlan

Sandy, Wendy, Erica and Suellen 4

Nursery Horticulturalist Ryan with volunteers David, Joden and Rosie.

Prue and Cr Brett Olds

at end of year celebrations

From left: GSOP’s Volunteers Support OfficerSarah Gosling with volunteers Amanda, Glen, Nick, Campbell, Geoff and Ryan at The Green Space tasting table.

Crs Cathy Zeiger and Max O’Halloran

Rodney, Julia and Sue

Council staff and volunteers joined together to celebrate the program success.

Volunteers Supervisor Louisa Grandy, manager Brett Spencer and coordinator Tim Dendle with Sonny.

Wendy, Roberta and Maureen

Stratford Nursery trainee Pablo (began as a volunteer with GSOP), Jen, Anne and Michael.

Volunteers Support Officer, Christian Cluver having a laugh with volunteer Rob.

Cr Cathy Zeiger with Volunteers Support Officer Sarah Olds.

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Barringtonia asiatica Beach Barringtonia seed pods

Beautiful Barringtonia

TOM COLLIS

Along the Esplanade and in several streets in the city, Council workers have planted Beach Barringtonia, Barringtonia asiatica. It is one of four species of Barringtonia native to North Queensland. This group of trees is admired for their spectacular floral displays and lush shady foliage. They are an excellent plant for our coastal environment with large leaves providing shade on hot days. The most well-known species in this plant family Lecythidaceae is the Brazil Nut from the rainforests of South America.

Barringtonia asiatica is a true coastal plant of the tropics, and is widespread along the coasts of Northern Australia, South-east Asia and islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is an excellent shade tree, and spreads its seeds by large floating fruits, allowing dispersal across the oceans in a similar way to a coconut. Each box-like fruit contains a single seed surrounded by spongy fibre covered with a waterproof outer layer. This ensures the seed is carried safely to its destination. On some Pacific islands these buoyant dried fruits are used as floats on fishing nets.

The spectacular flowers only reveal their beauty at night, before falling to the ground during the day. The short-lived flowers have long white stamens tinged with pink at the ends. They open at sunset and are pollinated by bats and moths during the night hours. The flowers are used as decoration on neighbouring Pacific islands such as Vanuatu, Solomons and PNG. A large specimen of this species can be seen next to the Chinese Pagoda at Centenary Lakes.

All species of Barringtonia contain saponins, substances contained in the leaves, bark and seeds, that are capable of stunning fish. When crushed bark or leaves are put into water, the saponins remove the oxygen, suffocating the fish nearby. Aboriginal people use this method to catch fish in small bodies of water (salt or fresh) and although called a ‘fish poison’ no toxins enter the fish. The Beach Barringtonia is also known as Fish Poison Tree.

Never far from water is the Freshwater Mangrove, Barringtonia acutangula. It grows along creeks, rivers and coastal freshwater wetlands where it can tolerate immersion for long periods. It flowers at any time of the year producing hundreds of striking red flowers that hang like necklaces from the branches. In the wet season hairy caterpillars are often found on the leaves. If touched they produce an irritating skin rash, and for this reason it is often called ‘itchy tree’. For Aboriginal people this tree is mostly avoided except when the crushed bark is used as a fish poison.

The Cassowary Pine, Barringtonia calyptrata, is found in lowland rainforest and along watercourses. It is not a pine but often grows in a pine-like conical shape. Flowering is spectacular, with numerous fluffy white flowers hanging like foxtails from the branches. The large blue-coloured fruits are eaten by cassowaries. As with other Barringtonia species Aboriginal people use parts of this tree as a fish poison. Another common name is Corned Beef Wood in reference to the smell emitted from freshly cut timber that is said to resemble ‘corned beef.’ However, I am not sure if that is fresh or the tinned version!

Closely related to Barringtonia is the Cocky Apple, Planchonia careya. It flowers late in the dry season with blooms that are very similar to Barringtonia. The flowers with long stamens are also short lived and only open at night.

But unlike the moisture loving Barringtonia species, Cocky Apple prefers to grow in drier habitats such as open eucalyptus woodland. It is very common in this habitat on Mt Whitfield and similar sites around Cairns.

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Barringtonia asiatica, Beach Barringtonia

Barringtonia calyptrata, Cassowary Pine

Barringtonia acutangula, Freshwater Mangrove

Planchonia careya, Cocky Apple

Barringtonia calyptrata fruit 7

Jennifer H Muir

Azure Kingfisher

Photo: Andrew Silcocks BirdLife Australia

The common name ‘kingfisher’ refers to the rich ‘royal’ blue plumage and mainly fish diet of some kingfishers, although only about a third inhabit wetlands, the rest being ‘dryland’ birds.

It is believed the kingfishers evolved in the Old World IndoMalayan region, probably at least 30 million years ago, and radiated out to all continents except Antarctica. Today Africa, South-east Asia and Australasia retain the greatest number of species. Planet Earth has approximately 100110 species, of which Australia has almost 10 per cent.

Kingfishers are categorised into three sub-families: Alcedininae, the ‘water/river’ kingfishers; Halcyoninae, the ‘forest/tree’ kingfishers (both sub-families are represented in Australia); and Cerylinae, specifically fisheating kingfishers that occur in the Americas, Africa and Asia, but not in Australia.

Alcedininae (water / river kingfishers) in Australia In Australia, the only members of the Alcedininae are the Azure and Little Kingfishers. They were formerly named Alcedo, the Latinised name for Alyceone, but are now named after Ceyx, Alcyone’s husband’s name (refer to Did You Know for more information).

A mainly tropical bird, it occurs in lowland rainforest streams, tidal mangrove creeks, and swamps, preferring dark narrow waterways with lots of overhanging vegetation that provides hunting perches. From these perches it dives head-first into the water to catch its ‘lunch’, returning to its perch to swallow it. Typically of Alcedininae kingfishers, Little Kingfisher takes tiny fish and other aquatic animals. When ‘on the move’ it flies fast, darting just above the water and through the forest.

All kingfishers nest in cavities, and most wetland kingfishers dig straight, horizontal, or slightly upward nest tunnels in vertical banks or rotting stumps along watercourses. They dig with their bills and scrape out the debris with their feet (their front toes are partly joined to form scoops: a remarkable, useful adaptation).

Little Kingfishers usually breeds from November to February during the wet season in northern Australia: in Northern Territory’s Top End, and all of Queensland’s coast including Cape York to south of Rockhampton.

The Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus) is an intensely coloured, small fish and aquatic invertebrate feeder of slow-moving rivers and creeks, as well as lakes, swamps, billabongs, and well-vegetated dams.

The rich blue upperparts, very long, black shiny bill, white mark on sides of neck, white throat, deep rufous underparts, short tail, and reddish feet are obvious in the photo on the right taken at Julatten.

When in sunlight, Azure Kingfishers’ beautiful blue upperparts shimmer, contrasting strikingly with the rich chestnut underparts. They are easily overlooked if perched quietly in shade, and may be first noticed when calling during their arrow-like rapid flight over water, or when splashing into water to catch prey.

Little Kingfisher Photo: JJ Harrison

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At 12cm, Little Kingfisher (Ceyx pusillus) is Australia’s smallest kingfisher. Bright blue above and clean white below, its a striking bird, that usually appears black in poor light. Its so tiny that from a distance its sometimes mistaken for an insect: the wingspan of some dragonflies is longer than the length of a Little Kingfisher.

They breed during summer (mainly October to December), and like Little Kingfishers, dig their nests in horizontal or slightly upward burrows in vertical banks or rotting stumps along watercourses. They, too, dig with their bills and scrape out the debris with their feet, as like Little Kingfishers, Azure Kingfishers’ front toes are partly joined to form scoops.

Azure Kingfishers are both sedentary and part-migratory.

They’re recorded from WA’s Kimberley across NT’s Top End; and along a wide belt from the coast of entire eastern Australia from North Qld to South Australia and Tasmania.

Daceloninae (forest/tree kingfishers) in Australia Australia’s eight ‘forest/tree kingfishers’ are the Laughing and Blue-winged Kookaburras; Red-backed, Forest, Torresian (formerly Collared), Sacred and Yellow-billed Kingfishers; and the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher.

They mostly take their food on the ground, although the Torresian Kingfisher often forages on intertidal mud near mangroves.

The beautiful, migratory Buff-breasted ParadiseKingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia) arrives in Tropical North Queensland from New Guinea in late October/early November, in its new breeding plumage, in time to breed during the wet season (November to January). With good rains, some may continue breeding into March, returning to New Guinea in March/early April.

These birds are spectacular with their rich blue, black and apricot plumage, large orange-red bill, legs and feet, and long dark blue tail with white streamers. When perched, their wings cover their white back and rump, but in flight this area of white is obvious. Females are similar, though slightly smaller with shorter tail streamers.

Buff-breasted Kingfisher Photo: JJ Harrison

Despite their strong colouring, they’re quite difficult to see as they perch quietly in mid-lower levels of darkish rainforest.From the coastal tip of Cape York to near Townsville, they ‘hang out’ in lowland monsoon rainforests, vine thickets and isolated forest patches.

They prefer the more open lower levels so they can watch the ground from preferred perches and pounce on insects, snails, frogs and lizards.

Azure Kingfisher Photo: JJ Harrison

DID YOU KNOW...?

Scientific naming of flora and fauna is usually based on Latin or ancient Greek words, or sometimes, myths.

The meaning of the words is usually applied to an aspect (eg physical or behavioural) of the lifeform being scientifically named, eg kingfisher.

The ancient Greeks had many myths. In one of these, Alcyone (‘Alcedo’ in Latin) married Ceyx, who subsequently died in a shipwreck. Alcyone was devastated and drowned herself in the sea, so the sympathetic gods turned them both into kingfishers.

Alcyone’s husband’s name is given to Australia’s Little Kingfisher (Ceyx pusillus), our smallest kingfisher, and Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus).

To nest, they drill tunnels into sides of low, rounded termite mounds (termitaria) built on the forest floor. Nestbuilding can take three to four weeks, and their beautiful, long tail plumes are easily damaged and stained during the process.

Jennifer H. Muir The ancient Greeks believed that kingfishers nested on the open sea, and called them ‘halkyons’: ‘hal’ meaning sea, and ‘kyon’ meaning conceiving. A related ancient Greek word, ’alkyon’, means ‘born of the sea’.

The ancient Greek word ‘halkyon’ was Latinised to ‘halcyon’ for naming ‘tree kingfishers’ (sub-family Halcyoninae).

‘Dacelo’, the genus of kookaburras, is apparently an anagram of the Latin ‘alcedo’, which refers to the excellent fishing skills of river (aka water) kingfishers, though I’m not sure why as kookaburras generally don’t hunt fish.

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Prayer Plants, Bananas, Can ZINGIBERALES - PART 3 Zingiberales has been our plant theme in the past two issues (June / September) covering familes such as Heliconiaceae, Zingerberaceae and Costaceae.

This issue we will conclude this theme with Marantaceae, Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae, Musaceae and Cannaceae.

MARANTACEAE – the Prayer Plants Calathea orbicularis

This is the second largest family in the order with 30 genera and 450-500 species. Genera and their distributions include: Maranta, Calathea, Stromanthe, Ctenanthe and Pleiostachya from Central to South America; Donax, Phrynium and Stachyphrynium from Asia and Melanesia; and Ataenidia, Marantochloa, Thalia and Thaumatococcus from Africa.

These plants are extremely popular for the home garden, offering a great variety of contrasting coloured and patterned foliage for those shady areas. They also come in a variety of sizes from the small Calathea micans, a miniature ground cover from Peru, to the large Calathea lutea or Havana Cigar – both can be seen in the Gardens.

Ctenanthe burle-marxii

Many of these plants have dark maroon coloration underneath their leaves enabling them to utilise any light that may filter through a dark rainforest canopy onto the forest floor.

LOWIACEAE Probably the most unusual family in this order is the single genus Orchidantha, with five to eight species, found in South-east Asia and Pacific Islands.

This is the most poorly known genus of this order in terms of botany and horticulture, but well worth a visit to the Botanic Gardens to see them when in flower. Visitors often ask about the ginger-type plant with its orchid-type flowers (as the genus name also suggests), and they have a smell all of their own!

STRELITZIACEAE – the Birds-of-Paradise

Maranta leuconeura

Stromanthe sanguinea ‘Tricolour’ 10

There are three genera with seven species of the family, restricted to southern Africa, Madagascar and South America.

Unique features are the woody trunk (absent in some Strelitzia), the birdlike appearance of the inflorescence and flowers, and the woody, capsular fruit.

Calathea crotalifera

Orchidantha maxillarioides

annas and Birds-of-Paradise LOUISA GRANDY Here’s a side note: common names can be very misleading. For example, due to the name ‘Travellers Palm’, many do not realise that this is not a palm, but a huge ‘Strelitzia’, Ravenala madagascariensis - take note of the flower (inflorescence) pictured.

The ‘Bird of Paradise’ that many people recognise, Strelitzia parvifolia, is better suited to the sub-tropics and even southern areas where it isn’t quite so humid and wet. It does extremely well in the hot, dry type climates. The tropical wet season can cause rust problems and also rot in these plants.

Ravenala madagascariensis

MUSACEAE – the Bananas Although Bananas are restricted mainly to eastern Asia, they also include tropical Africa, Australia and the South Pacific. However they have been extensively cultivated and hybridised for thousands of years.

Characteristics: large leaves spirally arranged at top of stem and pulpy fruits.

There is a small collection of restricted, ornamental, non-edible bananas in the Botanic Gardens near the front lawn that are especially grown for educational purposes. Because these particular species are possible carriers of disease and may be a threat to the banana industry they are carefully monitored. When seeds are on the verge of forming, the flowers are cut back to ensure these species do not spread to farms.

Ravenala madagascariensis inflorescence

CANNACEAE – the Cannas This solitary genus in the family, with an estimated range of species from nine to 50, is often grown in the home garden for their gloriously showy blooms. Although easily grown in the tropics they seem to be favoured more so in the sub-tropics.

NOTE: this is an outline of the Zingiberales order only. There is more information easily obtained from the Cairns Botanic Gardens library, in the Friends House.

Musa velutina

Zingiberales rhizogram

Canna 11

Hollywood parties at the Tanks Following the conversion of the Edge Hill wartime fuel depot into a community arts centre, the Tanks were made available for hire as a function venue. This commercial activity was projected to provide ongoing funds to support the operation and development of the Tanks Arts Centre.

Showbiz soiree One of the most famous early events at the Tanks was a party thrown to farewell Marlon Brando, the leading star of a movie being filmed in Far North Queensland.

‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’ was the third big-screen adaptation of HG Wells’ classic novel of the same name written a century earlier. It is a science-fiction horror film about a mad scientist who experiments with creating human-like hybrid beings from animals on a deserted jungle island.

The Brando party took place at the Tanks at the end of October 1995. It was a private event attended by around 150 people. The venue was dressed up with a customdesigned jungle theme by a local artist. The evening’s program featured a Polynesian troupe who danced with Brando and other cast members, including Brando’s “mini-me” character in the film, played by the diminutive actor Nelson de la Rosa.

Other highlights included Aboriginal dancers from the Wangetti Education Centre and a haka performed

by Maori actor Temeura Morrison, who played Dr Moreau’s son in the movie. Brando was presented with a didgeridoo and delighted the gathering by attempting to play it.

The bonhomie on the night belies the cascade of on-set dramas which plagued the filming. New Line Cinema, the American film studio responsible for the blockbuster trilogy ‘Lord of the Rings’, thought they had a megahit on their hands. Securing screen legend Marlon Brando in the title role was premised as a guarantee of box office success. But fate would have it otherwise.

Belligerent stars Marlon Brando was cast in the role of Dr Moreau and his antics were just as crazy as those of the mad scientist he portrayed. Arriving late on set following the suicide of his daughter earlier in the year, Brando proved temperamental, demanding and difficult to coax from his trailer. He insisted on complementing his wardrobe by oddities such as wearing an ice bucket on his head or smothering his face in white sunscreen.

Weighing in at 178kg, the producers were concerned about Brando’s health and assigned minders to look after his diet. Nonetheless, he reportedly consumed industrial quantities of pizza.

The other major star was Val Kilmer. He was in the throes of messy divorce proceedings and requested 40 per cent less shooting time for his character which resulted 12

in him being recast in the role of Dr Moreau’s equally weird assistant. He apparently became a serial pest, wandering around set with a hand-held video camera and sneaking up on people for candid closeups.

Like Brando, Kilmer was equally petulant and disruptive to an orderly filming schedule. They competed over who would arrive last on set. This prima donna behaviour did not endear them to the support cast and crew, who chalked up hours of waiting for the lead stars to cooperate. Overall, many shooting days were lost due to no-shows or trailer-sitting.

Tormented production The film’s original script was written and perfected over four years by Richard Stanley who was hired as director. Val Kilmer proved impossible to direct for the inexperienced Stanley despite his best efforts to accommodate Kilmer’s wishes, for example by booking the best suite in every major hotel in the area to ensure suitable lodgings. Only days after the beginning of filming, Stanley was fired from his dream project. In exchange for being allowed to collect his director’s fee, he was ordered to stay away. However, with the complicity of some loyal crew, he later returned incognito to the set disguised in a stolen bulldog hybrid costume.

The replacement director was veteran film maker John Frankenheimer. He better wrangled the capricious lead actors but had to bow to frequent script changes in order to maintain the momentum of filming. Sometimes, scenes were shortened or deleted to avoid conflict and delays. This ever-changing script was a constant source of frustration for cast and crew alike.

Moreover, Brando refused to learn his lines. In one scene, he allegedly ad-libbed that the animal hybrids were a result of French nuclear bombs, a provocative remark given the outrage at that time in Australia over French underground testing in the Pacific!

Unseasonal weather The production studio was set up in Cairns in July 1995 with filming locations chosen throughout the Far North.

Shooting was scheduled to take place during winter when the clear blue skies would provide ideal filming weather. Unfortunately, the winter of 1995 was anything but sunny and dry. In fact, August recorded around 140mm of rainfall, the wettest on record for this month in Cairns.

No sooner had filming started at the beginning of August in Cape Tribulation than a stormy downpour flooded the set and damaged equipment. The floor of the makeup tent became a river of mud. After a few days, shooting was eventually postponed for two weeks to wait for the sun.

Budget blowouts were anticipated when production was four weeks behind schedule in September. Lead actors

JANICE PICHON were forced to extend their stay, not to mention the 70-odd cast and several hundred crew on standby while intermittent rain messed up shooting schedules.

Not only the weather dogged the filming. Machans Beach residents complained about sand dune damage which could arise from the proposed staging of a special-effects explosion representing the destruction of Dr Moreau’s island jetty. The shoot at the beachside suburb was abandoned and replaced by computer graphics.

Box office bomb What should have been a dream production with its great storyline, Hollywood megastars and exotic filming location turned into a nightmare, not unlike the plot itself. The modest budget had blown out to US $40M and the crew was on location for almost five months instead of the planned six weeks. Released in August 1996, the finished result was just as disastrous as the shooting of the film. It was panned by the critics and was a box-office flop.

Bespoke entrance and interior design for Marlon Brando party.

Photo: Michael Marzik

Immortalising the making of the movie Such was the drama that a documentary was made of the making of the film: ‘Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau’. Accounts of toxic exchanges between the production team and the lead actors, ‘animal hybrids’ standing around for hours in full makeup in the tropical heat waiting for temperamental stars to emerge from their trailers, and a plot overhauled on a daily basis together contributed to its infamous reputation of how not to make a movie.

Night to remember The Marlon Brando farewell was the first international event hosted by the Tanks Arts Centre. It was a coup for the newly opened facility to be booked for a gathering of this calibre.

Compared to the fraught experiences on set, the Hollywood crowd was all smiles. Were they applauding the wrapping up of shooting or celebrating surviving to the end of filming? The party would definitely have been given a much higher star rating than the movie itself!

Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Lyn Mason who has provided valued feedback on the drafts of all my articles contributed this year.

Marlon Brando and his “mini-me” character in the film. Photo: The Island of Dr Moreau (1996) IMDb.com

Dancers entertain Marlon Brando and movie cast at the Tanks.

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Catching up with Friends Plant Sales

Starry Night Cinema

Friends ‘Gardeneers’, Annabelle and Lee at the Christmas Plant Sale.

Garden Night Tours

The Rocky Horror Picture Show always attracts an audience that love to dress up.

Friends of the Cairns Botanic Gardens raise funds through plant sales, movie nights and other events.

The final plant sale for the year (top left) was quieter than usual after record breaking sales earlier in the year.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (above) was the most popular Starry Nights film on the stage lawn this year. The partnership between End Credits film club and the Friends raised over $5000 this season.

Dr David Rentz AM held a night tour at the Chinese Friendship Garden, Centenary Lakes in November (see left). A big crowd of people attended the tour with flora and fauna caught on film by attendees.

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Feathered Friends

Photo: Grunter

Pacific Baza

Friends President, Val Schier presenting John Seale with a 16 years of service certificate.

John Seale retires after 16 years’ voluntary service Friends of the Cairns Botanic Gardens (FOBG) acknowledged John Seale’s 16 years of voluntary service providing Bird Tours at the Cairns Botanic Gardens. John’s tours became well known in local, interstate and international birding circles, resulting in many Cairns visitors attending. Brian Fifield, who has supported John for a number of years, will lead the tours on Tuesday mornings, leaving at 8am from the Friends House, Flecker Gardens.

Garden Tour Guides needed at the Cairns Botanic Gardens Would you like to become a Gardens Tour Guide?

• • • •

The 1-hour tours, starting at 10am at Friends House, Flecker Gardens, are held on Monday to Friday.

Each guide volunteers one hour a week on a chosen day at the their convenience.

Training is provided.

An interest in plants is desirable but it is not necessary to have guiding experience or botanical expertise.

Interested? Contact Barry Muir 0419 918 330 or email unit57.may@gmail.com

Of all the birds of prey that live in Queensland’s Wet Tropics, the Pacific Baza has the most distinctive profile — at least when it’s perched!

That’s when its erect crest becomes obvious.

It’s Australia’s only hawk with a crest, so, unsurprisingly, many people call them Crested Hawks. In flight, however, the crest is flattened.

Nevertheless, they also have a distinctive silhouette when flying, with broad, paddleshaped wings and a long tail.

Pacific Bazas’ most spectacular flight is performed just before nesting, and sees them flying upwards on a steep angle, with deep, laboured wings flaps, then stalling briefly before plunging into an equally steep dive on V-shaped wings, then repeating the display, sometimes many times, calling noisily all the while. It’s called the ‘undulating courtship display’. Some displays include somersaults and barrel rolls.

They often nest in trees near water, building a shallow, cup-shaped structure of sticks, lined with fresh gum leaves, which may be refreshed often. Both sexes collect the sticks and build the nest, in which two or three whitish eggs are laid. Both sexes incubate, but mostly the female, and both feed the noisy chicks. After fledging, the family remains together until the beginning of the next breeding season.

Sometimes they hunt cooperatively, plunging into the canopy of trees, occasionally scrambling about among the leaves, to snatch almost anything they can find among the lush foliage of the treetops — insects, such as cicadas and phasmids, as well as tree frogs, lizards, snakes and small nestlings.

JOHN PETER BirdLife Australia

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Clasping Tree Crickets DR DAVID RENTZ AM

1.

A walk in the rainforest after dark may reveal this unusual observation (1.). A closer look will provide somewhat of an explanation. It is the head of a cricket poking through a hole in a leaf (2.). A partial explanation occurs if you carefully look on the underside of the leaf (3.). You see the rest of the cricket with its forewings (called the tegmina) raised at a 90-degree angle to the body. It is a singing male Clasping Tree Cricket.

But what is it doing? The cricket is using the curvature to the leaf to amplify its calling song. As it sings it rotates its body to ‘broadcast’ its call to potential female mates. But sometimes things get a bit messed up (4.). This male has stuck its head in a hole in a small leaf and has not attempted to sing. It was just not the correct match. It will wander away looking for another more suitable leaf.

2.

Clasping Tree Crickets occur in rainforests in south Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea and north-eastern Australia. At least four species occur in our region. They are not uncommon late in the wet season. Probably all of them occur in the Cairns Botanic Gardens.

Another more widespread tree cricket is the cosmopolitan genus Oecanthus, True Tree Crickets. These crickets live in deep grasses in the open savannah country. They also sing after dark but sing upside down from grasses and herbs (7). The species in our area seem to form ‘mobile’ groups that move around from place to place after dark. During the day all species remain motionless either tightly adhering to grass stems or on the undersides of leaves in the rainforest.

All tree crickets are flimsy, delicate insects. They are active only at night.

Males have fairly broadly triangular forewings (7). Females are more streamlined and produce no sounds (6.).

3.

Tree crickets are thought to at least be partially predaceous. Otherwise they seem to graze on the particulate matter that rains out of the canopy.

Members of the genus Xabea have attractive lines on the head and thorax that are species distinctive (5, 6).

For more information see A Guide to Crickets of Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Victoria (2019). Pp. 1-398.

4.

5.

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6.

7.

Council’s sustainability team wins national award

Council’s winning sustainability team (from left) Sophie Barrett, Will McDonald, Deb Wellington, Dan Walton, Michelle O’Loughlin and Daniel Stronggrove.

Cairns Regional Council has been recognised on the national stage for its efforts to cut emissions and community engagement on climate action.

The only Queensland council to win an award at the Cities Power Partnership Awards, Council’s sustainability team was awarded the Climate Champion Award.

The Awards, run by the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership in November, recognised the work of the climate heroes in local governments across the country, in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, community engagement, ambition, collaboration and innovation.

Deputy Mayor Terry James said Council was committed to taking action on climate change and commended the work of the sustainability team.

“We have a passionate sustainability team working hard to reduce carbon emissions within Council including developing a Climate Change Strategy for Cairns,” Cr James said.

“This award acknowledges the work being done to deliver a strategy that reduces our net emissions and ensuring our community is involved, informed and committed at every step of the way.

“We have looked to particularly involve our young people in our strategy through our Youth Climate Summits; the only such summits held by a local council in Australia.

“We all have a part to play in protecting our planet, starting with our own backyard.”

Council has undertaken extensive industry, community and internal engagement as part of its goals to reduce emissions.

This included the Youth Climate Summits, EV Tourism and Planning Roadshows with Economic Development Queensland, Sustainable Schools Summit 2020, Clean Jobs forum, Urban Heat Sensors and Study with TUDLab at JCU, Traditional owner engagement on Climate Change and Coastal Hazards and the annual EcoFiesta event.

Dr Portia Odell, director of the Cities Power Partnership, Australia’s largest network of councils leading the way to a zero emissions future, said that the calibre of submissions showed how local governments are stepping up to the climate challenges and playing a vital role in Australia’s climate solution.

Cr James said Council was developing the Cairns Climate Change Strategy 2030, which would help set a pathway to net zero emissions.

“We must set new targets for emissions reduction for Council operations and identify actions to support the community in adapting to a changing climate,” Cr James said.

“As part of reviewing our own operations, Council will be looking at options to purchase 100% renewable energy to reduce operational emissions as well as a progression towards net zero emissions.”

“It is our responsibility to do all we can to protect our reef, rainforest, lifestyle and environment. Our Climate Change Strategy 2030 is part of this responsibility.”

17

A tardigrade sitting on a moss leaf.

(Internet photo)

Close-up of the mouth. Glad they aren’t any bigger! (Internet photo)

THE WORLD BENEATH OUR FEET: Part 6 - Tardigrades BARRY MUIR

If there are aliens already living on our planet then tardigrades are them! They are the weirdest little critters you won’t see when you are pottering in the garden. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5mm, the smallest below 0.1mm. They might be small, but they’ve been around for a while, with fossil specimens from the mid-Cambrian (570 million years ago) deposits in Siberia. Some 1,200 species of tardigrades (also known as water-bears or moss-pigs) have been described. Tardigrades occur over the entire world, from the high Himalayas (above 6,000m), to the deep sea (below 4,000m), to boiling hot springs and from the polar regions to the equator.

The most convenient place to find tardigrades in your backyard is on lichens and mosses. Other environments are dunes, beaches, soil, and marine or freshwater sediments, where they may occur up to 25,000 animals per litre of soil.

Tardigrades have barrel-shaped bodies with four pairs of stubby legs. The body has four segments (not counting the head), four pairs of legs without joints (they move using hydraulic pressure), and feet with four to eight claws each. The skin contains chitin, the same as insects, and they need to moult periodically to get bigger.

They have a tubular mouth armed with “jaws” which are used to pierce plant cells, algae or small animals on which the tardigrades feed, releasing the body fluids or cell contents which they then suck up. They have a brain and a nerve cord (like a spinal cord) that runs the length of the body. Many species possess a pair of cup-shaped pigment spots that act as “eyes”, detecting light and shade.

Some species can reproduce without mating but males and females are usually present. Tardigrades lay eggs and mating occurs during the moult, with the eggs being laid inside the shed skin of the female and then covered with sperm. In most cases, the eggs are left inside the shed skin to develop. The eggs hatch after a couple of weeks and they grow by pumping up their cells in the same way fungi do, rather than by cell division like plants and most animals. Tardigrades live for three to thirty months and may moult up to 12 times.

Several species regularly survive in a dehydrated state for up to ten years. While in this state their water content can drop to one per cent of normal. Their ability to remain desiccated for such a long period is largely dependent on the high levels of a special sugar which protects their membranes. As well as being extremely tolerant to dehydration, tardigrades can survive being heated for a few minutes to 151C or being chilled for days at -200C. Tardigrades can survive the vacuum of space and solar radiation combined for at least 10 days as found in Space Shuttle Endeavour experiments. Tardigrades can also withstand lethal doses of gamma radiation up to 5000Gy while five to 10Gy could kill a human. Tough little fellows!

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Ergon provides community support

A group of 11 Ergon Energy staff from both the Network and Retail businesses joined the Green Space Our Place team to plant 300 trees at the South Side Tracks & Reveg site in November as a part of their volunteer program.

JOIN THE FRIENDS

Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Cairns Membership details- phone 4032 3900 or email info@botanicfriendscairns.org.au After joining you can support the Friends in many ways; as a committee member, in the Friends Shop, as a tour guide or assisting with events.

Friends of Sugarworld Botanic Gardens Contact Fran Lindsay frantastic10@bigpond.com

Newsletter Contributions: Please submit articles (must be volunteer or nature based) by first week of February for the next quarterly publication in March.

Email: l.grandy@cairns.qld.gov.au Please note articles are subject to editing.

Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with all events or visit our websites: - Green Space Our Place - Cairns Botanic Gardens - Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Cairns

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Green Space Our Place

Mondays - Russell St Environmental Park Egrets 9am-noon Tuesdays - Cattana Wetlands Jabirus 9am-noon Tuesdays - City Sandpipers, Tuesdays 9am-noon Wednesdays - Botanic Gardens Down ’n’ Dirty volunteers 9am-noon Wednesdays - Tracks ‘n’ Trails 9am-noon Thursdays - Stratford Nursery 9am-noon Thursday (once a month) - Sugarworld Gardeners & Friends Fridays - Saltwater Creek ‘Salties’ 9am-noon Fortnightly Thursdays - Children’s Nature Activities Program - Little Taccas Visitor Enhancement Volunteers - rostered hours to suit individual Heritage Tour Guides - Thursday 10am

Interested in becoming involved with your local park, reserve or tracks in your community? Contact us to register as a Council volunteer and be involved in beautifying your park (enhance planting, weed management, litter clean-up), reporting on issues (graffiti and vandalism, anti-social behaviour, maintenance issues) and building community participation (networking activities) with Council support.

If you are interested in supporting any of our weekly groups or volunteering in your local area contact Volunteers Supervisor Louisa Grandy 4032 6648 or email greenspaceourplace@cairns.qld.gov.au 19

Green Space Our Place