Yes, it's that time of year again when Triturus cristatus [otherwise known as the Great Crested Newt] moves out of its hibernation on land and gets on over to a pond for the fun pastime of breeding. We seem to be popular with the Great Crested Newt in Great Gidding [must be something to do with the water] and you'll even see it's picture on the many trail signs if you happen to be driving or walking through the village.
Jubilee Wood pond
Taken at the beginning of the month, this picture of the pond may not make it seem that inviting but the days have warmed up a lot since then and already there's a lot more signs of life showing in the vegetation and trees. Soon we might catch our first sighting this year of the infamous newt which apparently is Britain's most strictly protected amphibian [check out froglife.org for more information on these fascinating creatures.]
Male Great crested newt...the UK's largest newt
A page from my sketch book which is a pictorial diary of the Jubilee wood. The newts will soon be laying their eggs in pond weed and then folding over the leaves to protect the eggs......
The female doesn't have the crest or whitish tail stripe but still manages to have an orange stripe underneath her tail and orange belly with irregular black spots . I think the male great crested newt will make a good print so will be working on that next, probably using this sketch....... .
And finally, another sign of new life......garden spiders recently hatched in our greenhouse and were found scurrying around their web which was attached to a plastic chair.....I decided to leave them alone as they'll be gone next time I check and will hopefully be usefully employed in catching some of the flies that have recently appeared.
So many spiders, like little yellow droplets of rain until they start moving around!......
