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breeding season night time excursions |
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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Posted: 23 Mar 2011 at 6:55pm |
hi RAUKERS,
as usual i had a good look around the ponds last night and as i did, i eyeballed these two male smooths at the edge of my smaller pool; sorry, pic is poor - its honest in situ tho! is such breeding season terrestrial activity likely to be in pursuit of food (it wasnt a damp night) or are these wandering males seeking other waterbodies hoping to find mates? they could have come from my other pond. thoughts anyone? ben |
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administrator
Admin Group Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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ben didn't you know 'newt diving' is an Olympic event? They are just getting in some practice! Newts are pretty active at night throughout the breeding season, they often forage on land and wander about to different ponds.
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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i expect they put in a good showing in the Synchronised Swimming event too! thanks Gemma. so its primarily food-seeking then. i often see them out and about. hopefully observe one with prey soon! |
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sussexecology
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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Did my first torching survey last night and actually lost count on the number of smooth newts. I know we had about 15 females in one pond! I didn't get any pics because, as usual, I didn't have my camera with me! It was such a mild night though. Gemma, we had to be a bit careful at one point because we had a number of toads foraging on the ground! Bless their little souls! No squashed ones though, I'm pleased to report. |
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administrator
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Tuddies can be out for other reasons too, the males will
often just sit in open areas waiting for the females, some nights before the bulk of the females turn up I find more males around a pond than in it. Not smart behaviour though if the open area is a road. |
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