Large Female SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) on footpath S of Piccotts End Pools.

SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) on footpath at Piccotts End Pools.

A large Female SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) was on the footpath heading towards Piccotts End Pools from the S this morning which was nice to see. It was completely still & didn't move when approached so I took a couple of snaps, then as it was directly in the 'tread zone' I decided to move it to a safer spot beside the footpath. I took this opportunity to take a couple of photos showing its size compared to my hand. Unfortunately I only had the 150-500mm on the Pentax so it wasn't ideal for taking pics at close range, but fortunately I was carrying my waterproof Lumix compact, which meant I could also take a short video...

SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) on footpath at Piccotts End Pools.

SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) & footpath where found in background, at Piccotts End Pools.
(Click to enlarge)

Showing length of SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) compared to hand, at Piccotts End Pools.
(Click to enlarge)

SMOOTH NEWT (COMMON NEWT) at Piccotts End Pools.

Martin Parr

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Great video Dan, nice to find one of these out and about. They breed in my pond so I come across them in the garden occasionally and can always rely on fishing one out to show the kids!