ID ON MY FIRST NEWT SIGHTING-OH & HELLO TO ALL AS i AM A NEWBIE

[Malcolm Banks]

Hi Delia, I still consider myself a newbie after about 13 months, but WAB is a great resource with which to embark on a steep learning curve. I concur with the majority (thus far) in relation to your newt ID. Size is a major arbiter in the discrimination, since at 10-11cm fully grown, the Smooth newt is significantly longer than the Palmate at 6.5cm. I have a pair of Palmates in my 13 month old pond, but have been unable to get good shots of them since I have only seen them after dark, despite spending more daylight hours peering onto the pond than is good for my garden. My guess is an immature (sub-adult?) Smooth but can't comment on which sex.

M

[victor]

Hi Delilah welcome from another newbie

[dmclean2]

Hi Delilah,
And welcome to the site
There's nothing like getting stuck in on your first post,
well done you
Keep them comming, lol
Duncan

[Malcolm Banks]

Hi Delilah, Re your newt. I have done the rather anal exercise of measuring the width of a duck weed leaf in my pond (5mm) and on your newt image (7mm). So, multiplying by the same ratio (1.3) the image of your newt (measured at 12.5 cm, although the end of the tail is estimated) indicates it is ca. 9,6 cm in length, too big for a Palmate. Perhaps I should adopt the epithet of "Nerdy"
Rather spookily, after saying I had never seen my Palmates in daylight, when I went out to measure the duckweed, I saw the male for a brief few seconds until it secreted itself in a crevice.
M