Last week, deep in the grime at the bottom of our small pond, we spotted this male Smooth or Common Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris). Result!
Search tool:
Quote of the day:
“What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.”
~ Andrew Marvell
Forage in October for:
Sweet Chestnuts, Sloes, Dandelion Leaves, Rosehips, Hops, Walnuts, Haws (Hawthorn berries), Wild Strawberries, Cleavers, Burdock Roots, Rowan Berries
That’s a beauty. Yet to see any newts here.
Thx … It is so exciting!
If you build it, they will come! 🙂
Yes, indeed!
I wondered if there was a color difference between the young and the old. I’ve seen photos of the so-called red eft, and it’s pretty splashy. Yours seems more subdued. I found this about the eft/newt relationship, and it’s pretty interesting (thanks, Wiki!):
“The Old English name of the animal was efte… resulting in Middle English eft. The initial “n” was added from the indefinite article “an” by the early 15th century. The form “newt” appears to have arisen as a dialectal variant of eft in Staffordshire, but entered Standard English by the Early Modern period (used by Shakespeare in Macbeth…
The regular form eft, now only used for newly metamorphosed specimens, survived alongside newt, especially in composition, the larva being called “water-eft” and the mature form “land-eft” well into the 18th century, but the simplex “eft” as equivalent to “water-eft” has been in use since at least the 17th century.”
Yes the colours are a bit disappointing, but at least I can see a bit of that fiery glow where his tail bends. Part of the problem of course is that I don’t get to see him upside! Since we are changing the pool around soon I might need to catch him temporarily. Maybe we will see then …
Thx for eft info. I had no idea!