Newt Survey

Local Whitchurch resident Jonathan Taylor, who is licensed to survey newts, set up 22 traps throughout the Meadow on the eve of 6th June 2010 and collected the next morning.

Newt trap in the pond

The male smooth newts were beginning to loose their crests suggesting that we are getting to the end of the breeding season.

Pond 1 and 2 both are quite nice for newts – pond 2 particularly. There are good breeding populations in both ponds which is great.

The water quality in ditches 1 and 2 is probably a bit poor to sustain many newts – a study of the species of invertebrates found there indicated that these locations are quite low in oxygen.

How the Studies Were Done

Newt trap in the pond

The newt survey was undertaken based on a standard methodology described in the Great Crested Newt Mitigation Guidelines (English Nature, 2001). Due to the legal protection afforded to great crested newts, surveys must be undertaken under licence where there is the possibility that a great crested newt may be found. Great crested newts are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the EC Habitats Directive, implemented in the UK by the Conservation (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1994. It is illegal to kill, injure or disturb great crested newts and to damage or destroy their breeding and resting places – hence the requirement for a licence for survey, as it constitutes disturbance.

For the survey carried out at the meadow the following methods were used:

• Bottle Trapping
• Egg Searching

Bottle Trapping

Female smooth newt in the trap

Bottle-traps (converted 2 litre soft-drink bottles) were placed, as at approximately two metre intervals, around the margins of the ponds to be surveyed, particularly concentrating on areas where there was submerged vegetation. The bottles were placed, and held by attachment to a cane, at an angle such that they retained an air pocket in the inverted bottom of the bottle. Traps were placed after 16:00hrs in the afternoon and collected before 10:00hrs the following day. Amphibians were handled only with wet gloved hands. They were identified, counted, sexed and returned to the point of capture without undue delay.

Egg Searching

An egg search was also carried out, mainly for the purposes of identifying if great crested newts were present. Egg searching was undertaken after the retrieval of bottle-traps in the morning. Great crested newts lay eggs singly usually on the under surface of pliable leaves of submerged plants, which they then fold over them. Therefore, the methodology involved examining submerged vegetation, searching for folded leaves, and then gently opening them to check for eggs. Smooth newts lay eggs in the same fashion, but have smaller and greyer looking eggs, and can easily be distinguished.

Invetebrate Indicators

There are a series of indicator species that can tolerate difference levels of pollution/oxygen/suspended solids. So by taking a look at the invertebrates in a particular area, you can work out the biological water qualify. A brief study on the Meadow showed there was certainly a difference between the ponds, and hence the ponds with the better water quality are more likely to have a higher newt population.

Bottle Trapping

Male smooth newt in the trap

There are a few theories as to why newts go into the soda pop bottles…The water temperature is slightly warmer in the bottle which could attract them; It certainly is the case that the bottles offer shelter which they will go for, in the same way as lobsters and crabs go into pots. Other reasons are that as newts need to come to the surface to breath, they get caught by the traps as they come up due to the angle the traps are set.

Once there is a female newt in a trap it is likely that the female will release hormones that attract males. It is quite common to find disproportionally fewer females in traps than males.

It is likely a combination of all these reasons, but bottle trapping certainly works. What is a mystery is how this method was discovered in the first place!