Great Crested Newts are our largest native newt species and have distinctly warty skin of blackish appearance.. They also have fine white spots on their lower flanks, which are more obvious in breeding males. Their undersides are either yellow or orange-coloured and are covered in large black blotches. Males can be distinguished from females by the presence of a jagged crest that runs along their backs, dipping at the rear of the abdomen to a smoother-edged crest above and below the tail. The male’s crest is more pronounced during the breeding season, and lies flat to the body when the newt is out of water. Females lack a crest, but have a yellow-orange stripe along the lower edge of their tails.
You can see a small crest along the back of our friend and the orange stripe along the underside of tail - probably a female - any experts out there?
3 comments:
I'm jealous - we only have common newts in our garden. Now where is Ken Livingston when you need him...
This is really exciting Ann - did you take this in Toft or are you in some exotic holiday location?
It was taken in Toft, Cambridgeshire - we have found them in the garden in previous years along with a rare cave spider. We are very pleased as it is extra ammunition against developing the field next to our house
Post a Comment