Our great crested newt survey season has started and we have already had positive results in the ponds that we are monitoring and in ponds that we are surveying for the first time.
A number of the ponds which we survey as part of our annual monitoring cycle have a number of great crested newt egg folds present, mainly on water forget me nots and willow-herb. This is relatively early in the great crested newt breeding season and it is possible that newts have been active early this year due to the mild winter.
It is particularly encouraging to find good numbers of great crested newts in ponds which we have actively managed over the last couple of years. The removal of willow trees which have encroached the ponds and the opening up of the pond banks are simple measures which have produced good results.
It will be interesting to see how great crested newt activity progresses in the ponds as the season goes on, and we hope to see an increase in the maximum numbers of great crested newts in the ponds and also an increase in amphibian activity in general.