Thursday 11 July 2013

You Never Know ....

..... what you will find hiding in the garden. There really is a lot more wildlife than we might imagine. Yesterday a new water feature arrived and it prompted me to start tidying up part of the garden which had been neglected for a couple of years. That meant removing grass and buttercups which had gone rampant.

As I moved some disused containers, pots and such like there was plenty of life under them, usually slugs, worms and spiders. I know there are quite a few frogs of various ages and sizes which rest in damp shady spots so wasn't surprised to see this one:

Common Frog

I often see one jump out when mowing near the borders of the lawn. What was a suprise was to find a young Smooth Newt under one of the containers.

Young Smooth Newt 1

Young Smooth Newt

There have been newts in the garden pond for years and I assumed they would be breeding there but look as I might had never once seen any spawn, tadpoles or young newts, only adults,  so this was the first hard evidence that they are breeding. I would think this youngster is about half to two thirds full size.

Even after a tidy up there are still lots of dark, damp places left where it can find a safe home. And the water feature:

DSCN1364c

Most of the clutter and grass seen behind it has been removed. I am hoping it will attract birds to drink and give me some more photo opportunities.

6 comments:

  1. That is well worth having a tidy up for.

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  2. nice addition! i like your frog and cute newts!

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    Replies
    1. Not seen the newts very often so far this year, TWG.

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  3. We find lots of newts on our allotment plot often when we are digging we need to transport them to safety as well as numerous frogs and toads.

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    Replies
    1. Sue: Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Great to hear that there are still areas where newts are thriving.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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