15 Apr 20 - My Little Residents #BWKM0

One of my occasional & very pleasurable activities at this time of the year is to check what's going on after dark in my big pond. My little residents are the Smooth Newts in the pond. It is a real treat to have good numbers in the pond & I will never tire of watching them: albeit I only look quickly to avoid disturbing them. One or two are often visible during the day & it's easier to watch them in the daytime. The numbers that are visible vary night to night, but my peak on 12 on 8 Apr 20, is close to be best single night count of 14. However, in late Summer 2011, I had to drain the pond to replace the liner & caught 22 over a couple of days: they were safely transferred to my small front garden pond.

Smooth Newt: Male. This individual has a wavy crest along the length of the body & tail. Males only develop this during the breeding season, so sexing individuals without this crest isn't easy (20 Jun 10)

Smooth Newt: Male. (18 Apr 14)

Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at #BWKM0.

26 April 14 - Great-crested Newt

Every few days I check out the Great-crested Newts in the pond. They are best seen after dark as they are fairly shy. Was really pleased to see I've now got 3 males & a female: which is a nice improvement on the single male of last Summer & the pair seen earlier this Spring. Couldn't resist a few more photos of my favourite garden resident.

Great-crested Newt: Male number 1. Males have a jagged crest

Great-crested Newt: Male number 2 with a female Smooth Newt showing how large the Great-crested Newts are compared to the other British Newts

Great-crested Newt: Male number 3

Great-crested Newt: Female. Females do not have the jagged crest of the males

Smooth Newt: Male. Males have a smooth crest along the full length in the breeding season & have clear unwebbed toes. In comparison, the male Palmate Newt (which I've yet to find in the pond) does not have the crest & has webbing black hind feet in the breeding season

2 April 14 - Garden Newts

At the end of May last year, I saw a male Great-crested Newt in my garden pond. This was my first record since digging the pond in August 96 as a wildlife pond (with no goldfish of course). He was around on a number of occasions until the start of Sept.

Male Great-crested Newt: The large size identifies it as a Great-crested Newt & the jagged crest identifies it as a male in breeding condition (photo taken May 13)

This year has been even more exciting as I have seen a pair on a couple of occasions in late Feb & late March, as well as singles on a number of occasions. They lay eggs in Feb & March so am hoping that I might see some young newts later this summer in the pond.

Male Great-crested Newt: The male a few days ago

It took near 10 years before the local Smooth Newts established themselves, but they are now very well established. Three years ago I ended up having to move the Smooth Newts to my other smaller front garden pond as my main pond liner had a serious hole which I has to replace, as I couldn't repair it. I moved 31 adult Smooth Newts. Once the main pond was up & running again they quickly moved back in.

Male Smooth Newt: Only half the size of the Great-crested Newt & without any of its bulk. The jagged crest identifies it as a male in breeding condition (photo taken June 10)

Surprisingly, the local Frogs have never bred in the ponds, despite being present in small numbers outside of the breeding season.