{"id":1050,"date":"2008-01-22T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2008-01-22T00:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/1050"},"modified":"2013-11-23T00:45:09","modified_gmt":"2013-11-23T00:45:09","slug":"newts-galore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/newts-galore\/","title":{"rendered":"Newts galore"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The mainstay of my photographic endeavours of late have been the newts, which are getting ready for the breeding season. Newts are primarily nocturnal, and while most of the year they are relatively drab in colour this changes at this time of year. The males develop small crests and black spots, while their underside develops an orange tinge. The females also develop an orange tinge underneath and slightly less distinctive dark blotches. <\/p>\n

Male newt<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Female newt<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The pond itself is just one of those glass fibre pre-fabricated affairs. It's quite small: about 10 feet at its longest point, and 4 feet at the widest, but generally just a couple of feet wide. The foxes just step over it when they go past. It's clogged with pond weed, and there's a deep layer of leaf matter on the bottom. At its deepest its maybe 2-3 feet, but mostly it's quite shallow. It does well though, and in addition to the newts supports a healthy frog population, plus a smaller number of toads (rarely seen). <\/p>\n

Young frog<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

As for the foxes… we've heard plenty of noise over the past few nights. Much of it has been very close, but getting to see any foxes has been rather more difficult. The vixen with the 'nicked' ear has been venturing in, but tends to keep her distance. No sign of the dog fox.
<\/span> The shy vixen tonight<\/span><\/p>\n

Camera note: all shots taken with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,86,1026],"tags":[1128,1149,165,220],"class_list":["post-1050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foxes","category-frog","category-newt-amphibians-2","tag-fox","tag-frog","tag-newts","tag-pond","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t