Newts, by night and day

[vole-woman]

Can anyone tell me why there seem to be no newts, or very few, in my pond during the day now, and then lots at night? Where do they go in the daytime? Are they out of the pond and hiding found the garden, or are they at the very bottom, in the mud?

A pond dip this afternoon brought out no newts at all (except for three efts). A quick sweep round just now, 10.45pm, with my torch and there are six or seven adult ones.

They all look healthy, but I'm curious.

[GCN lova]

hi vole-woman,

they probably just hide in the pond or near it. i think because they're mainly nocturnal they come to the pond to feed or to dampen themselves.

GCN lova

[vole-woman]

Thanks. I wonder whereabouts they go when they're not in the pond. I know I've found frogs in my hedgehog house in the past.

[jpscloud]

When I was a child we used to find GCNs and smaller brown newts (I don't know for sure what they were now) under the stones in my mum's rockery. We did always put the stones back very carefully - but it used to be a regular thing, to check what newts were under certain stones. The rockery was a good 150 yards away and across the lane from the nearest "pit" (natural still pond surrounded by marsh).

[Gill Catton]

Most newts in my experiance can easily evade a net they're more than likely hiding in vegetation and the pond bottom as you suspect.

They are terrestrial but if it's hot and dry as it has been they often don't go too far from the pond (unless there's similarly wet habitats nearby)

[King Edward]

What kind of newts do you have, Vole-woman? Great Crested Newts are normally pretty nocturnal and tend to hide during the day, I think mainly at the bottom of the pond. Smooth Newts are more active during the day (than GCN). I'd hazard a guess that they might be less visible now if their courtship and egg laying activity is getting less at this time of year.

As Gill Catton says, if you're seeing them in the pond at night then almost certainly they're spending the day there as well. If you spend time watching the pond, you might see them occasionally come up for air.

[vole-woman]

I have mainly smooth newts - just a handful of GCN sightings. I used to see lots during the day when they were mating and egg-laying, but now they just seem to be around at night.

I suppose the top end of our pond is now pretty covered with lily pads, so perhaps they're all up there. Laughing at me, I expect.

[GCN lova]

newts are quite good at camoflauging as in my grand parents old fish pond which has no fish left there is a LOT of leaf litter and billions of mosquitoe larvae and bloodworms, a perfect restraunt for newts. i dont see them often but when i do its in May-August but i doubt they breed in it as ive never seen their larvae. but the toad tadpoles there are extremely vibrant against the leaves there.

[Gill Catton]

It is the tail end of the breeding season really, so it may well be that newts are starting to move off perhaps in cooler damper nights.

[vole-woman]

I will keep a look out under our flower pots etc. I once found a newt, years ago, under our door mat and in those days I didn't know anything about wildlife and assumed a) it was a lizard and b) it was dead. I laid it sorrowfully under the hedge, only to watch it spring miraculously to life minutes later and scuttle off.