There's something in my pond

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   I have seen some things in my pond that I don't know much about.  I have looked through identification sites but any other help is appreciated. I am very new to this.

Last summer,  I was amazed to see a ribbon of black twirl through my pond.  This started my pond watching habit. I think I identified smooth and palmate newts. At least there are a couple of different looking ones.
This year I have been keeping an eye on the frogspawn, most of which has now hatched. The tadpoles vary a lot. Some swim very quickly, and some are very slow.  Some are thin and some are fat. They all bask in the shallow water during the day and disappear into the depths as the sun goes. One seemed to be nudging another constantly.

Then I saw the newts again.  I have seen 8 at the same time, quite large, and there are some babies too. There are very dark ones that I think are palmate, and smallish brownish ones that I think are smooth newts. Today, I saw two cream coloured ones.  I have been puzzled.  Does anyone have any idea what they might be please?

Also, this evening an amphibian came up to breath, like a pale tan coloured, large frog with a wide face and clawed feet.  I will try to photograph it on pond watching tomorrow.  Any hints and tips please?

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newt spotter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List New Member Joined: 01 May 2013 Location: wirral Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote newt spotter Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: There's something in my pond Posted: 01 May 2013 at 11:19pm
	I have seen some things in my pond that I don't know much about. I have looked through identification sites but any other help is appreciated. I am very new to this. Last summer, I was amazed to see a ribbon of black twirl through my pond. This started my pond watching habit. I think I identified smooth and palmate newts. At least there are a couple of different looking ones. This year I have been keeping an eye on the frogspawn, most of which has now hatched. The tadpoles vary a lot. Some swim very quickly, and some are very slow. Some are thin and some are fat. They all bask in the shallow water during the day and disappear into the depths as the sun goes. One seemed to be nudging another constantly. Then I saw the newts again. I have seen 8 at the same time, quite large, and there are some babies too. There are very dark ones that I think are palmate, and smallish brownish ones that I think are smooth newts. Today, I saw two cream coloured ones. I have been puzzled. Does anyone have any idea what they might be please? Also, this evening an amphibian came up to breath, like a pale tan coloured, large frog with a wide face and clawed feet. I will try to photograph it on pond watching tomorrow. Any hints and tips please?
	Cheers

GemmaJF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359	Post Options Post Reply Quote GemmaJF Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 May 2013 at 7:57pm
	My guess with the newts would be the cream coloured ones are females, the darker ones male. They get paler the warmer it is too! It would be interesting to see a picture of the amphibian you saw this evening. We have identification pages for amphibians at: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/identification.asp Which I hope will be of some help, or at least of interest to take a look at