Y.E.T.I : Addicted to Acid

Palmate Newts are one of our most overlooked amphibians, perhaps due to their secretive ecology and small size.

No Not Me!!!!, but today's featured creature is very much a characteristic of the small moorland pools within the region. This is the Palmate Newt, perhaps the species of newt most out of the public spotlight in Britain, unlike the notorious great crested newt, or the common garden dweller the smooth newt. Palmate newts predominantly occur away from settlements and often in quite remote places like heaths, woodland and moors. Palmate newts show a clear preference to soft water with a low pH (acidic) high in potassium and sodium, in comparison to both the crested and smooth which are usually found away from acidic waters, so much is the case of the former that breeding productivity is significantly reduced in such waters.

Like other amphibians Palmate Newts have moist permeable skin.

Palmate newts are our smallest amphibian and are well and truly dwarfed by the larger great crested newt. A small rather rotund newt which is not to dissimilar from its close relative the smooth newt in both appearance and biology. Breeding occurs during the spring (Feb-April) like our other amphibians, with males arriving in the pond slightly earlier than females (I had one in a pond in January this year). It's certainly not unusual to find palmate newts in ponds during the winter, although most migrate during the spring on mild damp nights.

A male palmate newt, might not be quite in the same league as smooth and crested newts when it come to breeding decor, but they are still interesting looking creatures.

Palmate newts like smooth newts are less aquatic and less nocturnal than crested newts, however daytime is nonetheless usually spent in the cover of aquatic plants or debris in the ponds base. As dusk falls these newts move from their hiding places into open parts of the pond to undertake courtship and mate. This activity follows a crepuscular pattern with peaks in activity at dawn and dusk, I find palmate slightly intermediate between smooth who are often diurnal and rested which are usually nocturnal.

Male Palmate Newts show palmated hind feet, a filament on the tail tip, and only a small crest along the tail.

Similar to the other two species, female Palmates lay between 200-300 eggs, each is individually wrapped in a submerged leaf. Newts usually use aquatic plants, but overhanging vegetation, grass, flooded terrestrial areas and even discarded litter can be used. Palmate newts tend to be slightly more lazy when it comes to wrapping eggs and occasionally don't bother, or do a quite poor job of it, quite unlike the female great crested newt which will meticulously wrap every egg with great care. Great diving beetles are one of the biggest threats to newt eggs (of all species) and feed on wrapped and unwrapped eggs. Egg laying tends to extend from March until June, sometimes later owing to cold spring weather (as we will no doubt see in 2013).

Palmate Newt often have more heavily marked faces than smooth newts.

The protraction of newt egg laying unlike anurans (frogs and toads) means that you get a whole mixture of different aged larvae within the pond at a given time. This often means larvae which are late to hatch will overwinter within the pond and emerge the following year. Certainly something which I have come across regularly dipping palmate ponds in the winter for invertebrates. Although palmate newts do develop faster than smooth newts and later hatching larvae appear to develop a lot more quickly than early ones, possibly owing to a more developed prey community later in the summer.

The past week has seen a huge influx of mating frogs and spawn is now present in most ponds across the region.

Poached, Scrambled, fried or boiled palmate newts feed voraciously on frog eggs. Here the tail of a feeding male can be seen.

Prey largely consists of small aquatic invertebrates including freshwater shrimp, hoglice, zooplankton. Similarly they feed largely on invertebrates during their terrestrial phase, focusing largely on small soil dwelling creatures like mites and springtails.

Another feature of palmate newts (males and females) is the almost translucent pink throat, which tends to lack the spots of smooth newts, smooth newts show a more cream/yellow throat.

As well as palmate newt regular sightings of goshawk over the forests has been a pleasure to watch, including a male chasing a woodcock (until beyond view). The rivers seem to be thriving with bird life, the local grey wagtails, dippers, kingfishers are all getting broody. I also managed my first bat of the year in the form of a Pipistrelle, unfortunately it was in the middle of the afternoon and I didn't have a detector. Identification to species (most likely either common or soprano) is impossible from a view of a flying individual like this. This individual has either been disturbed or forced to feed during the day due to poor weather conditions. Waking during hibernation is quite normal for this species, which is well adapted to cope with warm spells. In fact pipistrelles are too small to put on enough fat to survive hibernation, without additional supplimentary winter feeding. Small tortoiseshell, the beefly Bombylius major, the bumblebees Bombus terrestris and B.lucorum, the bee Andrena clarkella, and green tiger beetle were all recorded.