I have to admit to not knowing a great deal about amphibians – despite the fact that they are indeed fascinating creatures, birds and insects always seem to dominate my time (there’s so much to learn, you can’t do it all!) However, I sense a new interest looming for this coming spring and summer and it’s all down to a little newt that myself and volunteer John Elwell found in the polytunnel on Friday, whilst repairing one of the reed propagation bays.
The polytunnel seems to be a good place to find amphibians and I don’t blame them in weather like this! Our first finds of the day were two common frogs, or Rana temporaria to be scientific. I love how variable in colouration common frogs can be, with individuals ranging from bright green/yellow to pink/red to brown/black. Indeed our two were completely different, one being bright green and the other brown.
Next on the list was the aforementioned newt – a small, delicate looking creature, around 55 to 60mm in length, with pale olive/yellow/brown upperparts and a striking yellow/orange underside, completely unspotted. It was sat on sandy substrate underneath the propagation bay we were repairing and after a close inspection, was returned safely to the next bay. My rudimentary knowledge of newts suggested to me that this was a smooth newt, Lissotriton vulgaris, not a species that we seen very often here at Langford and indeed the first newt I have seen on site since I started here!
Unfortunately, the camera was absent, so no picture, but on further investigation back at the office, we suspect this may in fact be a palmate newt, or Lissotriton helveticus, a potential new species for the site and an excellent record considering newts seem to be so scarce here. Our specimen had a completely unspotted underside, including the throat, an important distinguishing feature between smooth and palmate newts.
Palmates are a fairly common and widespread species in the UK, but not as common or widespread as the smooth newt. They have a greater tolerance of acidic waters and are able to withstand drier conditions than their relatives.
We will need to see another specimen in order to confirm the record, as it can be hard to confidently distinguish between the two species, but whatever the outcome, in future I will definitely pay more attention to these lovely little creatures and their relatives, the frogs and toads.