lims
Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2006
- Messages
- 494
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 18
- Age
- 39
- Location
- Newcastle England
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Display Name
- Sam
I went to visit my granny in the wilds of Mid-Wales, she lives on an old farm in a valley on a hill.
I've seen a slow worm, toads, frogs, smooth newts and lizards, adders are around but I've never seen one.
Foxes got her beloved ducks and she had none for a few years, this resulted in an amphibian boom, both of her 2 ponds even the bottom one (previously turned into a lifeless mudhole by the ducks) were full of larvae and tadpoles.
Because my granny loves ducks she got more last year. The beloved ducks decimated the lower pond once again. BUT- she has never ever let ducks in the top pond. This is where I found the palmate newts 2 weeks ago. Her garden is entirely connected to the surrounding countryside which is hilly, partially woodland, mostly bracken, gorse bush and fields. The top pond comes out of a natural spring, trickles through the garden forming various pools on the way, ending up in the lower pond, then into a ditch.
The bottom pond that the ducks have destroyed:
Stream that flows down to lower pond:
The top pond:
I found 2 females and 1 male palmate newt in there along with a great number of larvae. I checked the bottom pond once at night with a torch, saw one female smooth newt braving the desolate wasteland that was the ducks feeding hole.
Male Palmate newt with characteristic tail filament:
Male with 2 females:
The larvae were many, I found 30 maybe.
Photographed them in a jar but they were not cramped for more than 15 mins:
I put all newts and larva back in the pond taking 5 larva to raise.
I suspect the larva to be all palmate but they could be smooth.
As funny as they are, I don't like what ducks do to ponds.
I would have liked to have more time to explore other ponds in the area and it was too cold for reptiles.
I've seen a slow worm, toads, frogs, smooth newts and lizards, adders are around but I've never seen one.
Foxes got her beloved ducks and she had none for a few years, this resulted in an amphibian boom, both of her 2 ponds even the bottom one (previously turned into a lifeless mudhole by the ducks) were full of larvae and tadpoles.
Because my granny loves ducks she got more last year. The beloved ducks decimated the lower pond once again. BUT- she has never ever let ducks in the top pond. This is where I found the palmate newts 2 weeks ago. Her garden is entirely connected to the surrounding countryside which is hilly, partially woodland, mostly bracken, gorse bush and fields. The top pond comes out of a natural spring, trickles through the garden forming various pools on the way, ending up in the lower pond, then into a ditch.
The bottom pond that the ducks have destroyed:
Stream that flows down to lower pond:
The top pond:
I found 2 females and 1 male palmate newt in there along with a great number of larvae. I checked the bottom pond once at night with a torch, saw one female smooth newt braving the desolate wasteland that was the ducks feeding hole.
Male Palmate newt with characteristic tail filament:
Male with 2 females:
The larvae were many, I found 30 maybe.
Photographed them in a jar but they were not cramped for more than 15 mins:
I put all newts and larva back in the pond taking 5 larva to raise.
I suspect the larva to be all palmate but they could be smooth.
As funny as they are, I don't like what ducks do to ponds.
I would have liked to have more time to explore other ponds in the area and it was too cold for reptiles.
