Newt ID/s Please

[thifasmom]

Got around to cleaning one of my mini ponds today it was chuck full of leaves from the autumn and was drying out fast due tothe near summer temps we have been experiencing.

Anyway along with the usual frog inhabitants we found to our delight not 0ne but three newts .

But identifying them is proving tricky so thought I would ask you wise people

So here they are:

the first one is approx 4inches long and is also the stockiest of the three, its skin is also a little rough looking, it didn't have any distinguishing accent colours that I could see, i was wondering if it maybe a female great crested newt




The second one is approx 3 inches long and had was slimmer build and smoother skin, it had some orange colour to the lower section of its tail with a thin orange line down its spine, i was thinking possible male common/ smooth newt


The third one is also about 3 inches long with similar distinguishing features as no:2


Thanks in advance for your replies

[Matt Smith]

A bit difficult to tell at all of them are in the water and we can't see the animals too well.

The first one is certainly not a female GCN, possibly a female Smooth Newt.

The patterning on the second is more suggestive of a female Palmate Newt.

I'd like to see more before i would give a definate ID.

[Kayleigh]

I know the pond was drying up but you really should not clean it out at this time of year as its the amphibians breeding time.
You could have thrown the baby out with the bath water..
You will have to find a way of topping the water up I have 2 water butts but sometimes have to resort to tap water when the weather is really dry but this is better than nothing or I end up with a dried up hole.

[dampflippers]

From the tail I would go for palmate for the second. Probably male, but the orange flash should be in the middle of the tail not the bottom.
Did you notice whethr it had webbed back feet or a hair like filament at the end of its tail?

[thifasmom]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I know the pond was drying up but you really should not clean it out at this time of year as its the amphibians breeding time.
You could have thrown the baby out with the bath water..
You will have to find a way of topping the water up I have 2 water butts but sometimes have to resort to tap water when the weather is really dry but this is better than nothing or I end up with a dried up hole.

yes I agree, i would normally do a major tidy early autumn and net the ponds in time for winter etc, but hadn't got around to it due to life getting in the way

but it is really quite a small pond (a converted plastic sandbox) which was more leaf than water (naughty pond owner) and my other pond was in much better condition and is teeming with lots of tadpoles and I hope maybe newts may have moved in there too (so that one won't be interferred with till the end of the summer).

From the tail I would go for palmate for the second. Probably male, but the orange flash should be in the middle of the tail not the bottom.
Did you notice whethr it had webbed back feet or a hair like filament at the end of its tail?

Yes the more I look at pictures online I am also thinking possible palmate but to answer your question the orange was definately at the bottom of the tail, as for web feet I can't say that they were webbed at all.

A bit difficult to tell at all of them are in the water and we can't see the animals too well.

The first one is certainly not a female GCN, possibly a female Smooth Newt.

The patterning on the second is more suggestive of a female Palmate Newt.

I'd like to see more before i would give a definate ID

they are all safely back in the pond so i can't take a nother look at them. As I am not used to handling newts I didn't want to harm they by taking them out the water and turning them over to see abdomen colour sorry

OH! I would add this, the two smaller newts that appear to be the same species were very into each other while they were in the tray, so posssible male and female or two males being aggressive

[GCN lova]

the first one im not so sure of but the rest look like palmate/ common newts but i doubt they are great crested newts as none have a distinctive blueish stripe which the male have.

[thifasmom]

So it looks like it might be palmate or common can anyone tell me what is the range of the palmate newt in the UK are they known to be found in the south of England?

[King Edward]

I think these are probably all Palmates, but I'm not certain on that. They do have the low crest typical of male Palmates. Males should also have a distinctive filament projecting from the tail tip.

Distribution map on NBN gateway

[thifasmom]

Originally Posted by King Edward

I think these are probably all Palmates, but I'm not certain on that. They do have the low crest typical of male Palmates. Males should also have a distinctive filament projecting from the tail tip.

Distribution map on NBN gateway

Yes i was wondering about that, cant say that i noticed a filament on the end of the tails

If I am lucky enough to net them again I'll try to take some photos of their underbellies.

[crevalle]

Ahhh I'm jealous--how cool!












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