Newts and Pipistrelles

Saturday 5/06/10

Saturday was very hot and sunny, and we went to visit an elderly friend and look round her garden. The heat was overpowering in the early afternoon and we all ended up sat by her little pond with a drink watching her goldfish with me trying to convince her that her newts were gorgeous. The newts were lounging at the water surface in little groups underneath lilly pads, little parasols to protect themselves from sunburn! Like us the heat had made them dozy and they were easy to catch and show to our friend. The females dull khaki and fat with eggs and the males speckled with black and gold spots. At the side of the pond we watched a male doing his waggle dance in front of a female. Our friend wasn't totally convinced of the beauty of newts especially when we noticed a newt hitching a ride on the back of her goldfish! I don't know how anyone could resist a creature with such an amiable smile! Her pond is only tiny and has one goldfish in it and is regularly topped up with a hose, all things not supposed to be good for newts - while we were there it was topped up again and the newts and the goldfish seemed to enjoy the water movement. We also noticed that when our friend fed the goldfish the newts seemed very interested in the fish food too!
That evening we visted the Moorhouses at Foxhill Barn B & B, and sat outside as darkness fell, the swooping swallows and swifts giving way to the tiny Pipistrelle bats hawking for moths and other insects attracted to the outside lights.