Day 100/20. One member of our Newt colony.

We clean the pond this time of year, well, sort of. We remove some weed and tidy up the plants.
Since we moved in, more than 25 years ago now, we have had a colony of Palmate Newts living in our 2 small ponds. While these are very common in the UK, it is a bit special that we have these tiny creatures living with us. The last time we did a full 'newt count' when we emptied ed the pond out, we had 70+ individuals. I would expect we have at least that now. In netting a stubborn piece of weed today, I accidentally caught 2 of them, including this chap. Don't worry he was only on my hand for a minute before being put back into the water. They are only about 5cm long if you have never seen one in the wild.
The two males I accidentally caught did not seem to like each other when I briefly put them in a bucket while I went for my camera. Social distancing perhaps. (see extra picture today)
They are cute though, and we take good care of them.