Allotments 4 All

Newt.

And oh so common.

Oh happy mermories of me as a bairn, wading in ponds, looking for newts! I often came home with my wellies full of sludgy water after a newt hunting expedition! I can't rememeber the kind of newts we used to catch, but your newt looks familiar(!) and there was some kind of salamander with a bright orange belly.  There used to be lots of them in a disused quarry that had large ponds in it, and we caught them in our hands then put them back in. I haven't seen a newt for ages! Did you find yours in your pond?

This is as I hinted a commonm newt. There are lots of them in the garden, usually in the darkest dampest corners. When we had to rebuild a dry stone wall under the hedge we found dozens. They do breed in the lily pond, but that is actually the only time they need to be in water.

Hello, Eric
Yes, I DID take the hint, but I was sure the newts I used to catch when I was a child (and dinosaurs roamed the earth) had a fancier name than your COMMON newt!  :-\  I've just been searching in the bookcase for my old "Spotter's Guide to Ponds and Lakes" but can't find it.

What a beauty! I love newts. Never found any in my little garden but I can always hope as we are fairly close to water.

AHA! A smooth newt. The females are drab, but the males are spotty with a lovely orange belly. The little ones looked like a cross between a tadpole and a reindeer. I haven't even seen a frog this year. Nor a toad. Funny looking creatures, toads.

There are 4 different kinds of newts that I can think of that live in Britian.

The common newt, palmate, smooth and crested and I'd love to have any of them in my garden.  :D

Eileen.

I've got them at my allotment, tend to find them hanging around the compost bin and I've found them under other bits of cardboard &c.

There's one or 2 that colour and the others are darker.

Jeremy