A strange-looking denizen of the deep, a bit warty and the bane of developers and road-building schemes... it's true to say that newts haven't got the best image. Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone is often mocked for liking them!
Perhaps that makes me the Ken Livingstone of The Lodge then, because I'm the great crested newt's biggest fan. If you have a garden pond with great cresteds in it and will be ticking the box for Make Your Nature Count this week, I am envious in the extreme.
Have a look at the splendid breeding male newt in the picture above. Isn't he gorgeous?
To me that's a mini-dragon or an aquatic Stegosaurus. Such lovely white speckles and orangey-yellow belly. The stripes on his toes. A splendidly jagged crest. Long frilly tail with a silver go-faster stripe. I could go on... and on.
The females are less showy but often look pretty impressive, especially when they're 'gravid' - bulging and ready to lay eggs. They remind me of a small-scale crocodile as they cruise around underwater.
When I dug a pond in my old garden a few years ago, I was astonished and delighted when great crested newts turned up and started breeding. Here's one of the tiny baby newts, called an eft.
I've moved house since, but because of the strict legal protection that great cresteds and their habitats enjoy, my pond legacy should be protected for years to come. Whoopee!
For more about great crested newts, have a listen to our mini-podcast.
Listen!
Hi norm. Thanks for your comment. In my haste I forgot to add the photographers' credits. The first one is by Roger Wilmshurst (RSPB Images). The second one was taken by me in my pond! I think Roger's was probably taken under licence in an aquarium (don't know what equipment he used).
For my photo I just used my normal camera and 300mm lens without doing anything clever. The eft was very near the surface of the shallow water so refraction wasn't too bad. Hope that helps.