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Early arrival: |
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Waterfrog Member Joined: 13 Feb 2005 No. of posts: 11  View other posts by Waterfrog |
Posted: 23 Dec 2008 Tonight I saw a male GCN in my garden pond... the first time I've seen one before Christmas. Very mild temperatures for the last week with a minimum of 11C may have influenced this. Get your torches charged! Julia |
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Huddy Member Joined: 09 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 18 View other posts by Huddy |
Posted: 26 Dec 2008 Hi all , I too have got GCN males back in the pond up in Cumbria , no other species of triturus seen yet though. |
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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts by Brian |
Posted: 03 Feb 2009 We had GCN eggs in a pond at New Romney, Kent, on 26 December 2008. They will have had a tough time with the weather since then. Brian Banks Swift Ecology |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369  View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 03 Feb 2009 How often have surveys been undertaken during December to see if this is a recent occurence or has this been occurring anyway we just haven't been looking.....
Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts by Brian |
Posted: 03 Feb 2009 I suspect it has been going on for some time in south Kent . In the past 10 years I have heard of eggs at the same site on 1st January, and 11 years ago I used to get GCN's in the garden of our old property in Hawkhurst in late November/early December. We don't have GCN's in the current garden pond, but smooths regularly start turning up in November - usually males. Ironically, despite the GCN eggs, my impression is that it has been a late season this year. Newts seem to start and finish breeding very early on Romney Marsh, conspicuously earlier than newts further inland in the county but it is not something I have ever set out to quantify. Certainly at Dungeness, in 2005 I had my highest count of GCN's for the year on 29 January! Brian Banks Swift Ecology |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 03 Feb 2009 Back in the 80's in London my garden pond had male GCN in full breeding dress in early Jan; first eggs usually appeared in late Jan. So I guess this has been going on for a couple of decades at least. However the main cohort of adults - especially females - did not tend to arrive til a more traditional early to mid March. |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 22 Nov 2009 A friend of mine contacted me today to say that Smooth,Palmate and GCN were back in his pond and that the GCN males were half crested already. |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 22 Nov 2009 Just received a text from friend to say the GCN are busy with their courtship displays |
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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts by Brian |
Posted: 22 Nov 2009 Kevinb, Roughly speaking is the pond on the south coast, the west coast, or more inland? Brian Banks Swift Ecology |
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kevinb Senior Member Joined: 18 Mar 2009 No. of posts: 61 View other posts by kevinb |
Posted: 23 Nov 2009 In Gloucester |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 23 Nov 2009 Blimey - if UK GCN switch over to a Spanish-style timing of their breeding we herpetologists will have no 'down time' to rest our weary bodies ! Where does this leave the 'winter window' for 'safe' GCN pond works..? maybe the best time is now late summer / early autumn, when the pond may have nearly dried out and before it refills with winter rain.. |
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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts by Brian |
Posted: 23 Nov 2009 I guess that rather depends on where you live, and the differences can be quite fine. Even in the same county. October sounds like a good month to me in areas with early breeding. Brian Banks Swift Ecology |
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Brian Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 No. of posts: 17 View other posts by Brian |
Posted: 23 Nov 2009 There are also problems with survey times as well. At Dungeness one of my best counts in one pair of ponds (180 newts) was made at the end of January about 4 years ago, and newts appear to be declining in numbers and condition from late April onwards, so the mitigation manual guidance on when to survey does not always hold too well there, unless you have an unusually cold winter like 2008/9. Brian Banks Swift Ecology |
- Early arrival |