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Ponds and newts

Lynne WilkinsLynne Wilkins Posts: 7
in Problem solving
Can someone help? I have transferred all my newts from and old wildlife pond to a new shady area pond - now it has gone green even though we put loads of plants in with oxygenating weed and the newts seem to have disappeared....what have I done wrong?

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,102
    New ponds often go green to start with. To help it achieve a balance you can use Blagdons Barley Straw extract which is fine for wildlife ponds. The newts will choose where they go ... the adults don’t live in ponds ... they just use them for breeding ... for the rest of the year they’ll be in damp corners under logs and leaf litter. 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • PosyPosy Isle of Wight.Posts: 3,601
    The newts may be lying low. I'm really interested in this newt  thing. Dove knows much more than I do about wildlife but it is a fact that my pond has loads of newts and they are in the pond all year. Some do leave in late autumn and settle down under stones and plants but dozens of adults and zillions of youngsters stay in there all summer.
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Posy said:
    The newts may be lying low. I'm really interested in this newt  thing. Dove knows much more than I do about wildlife but it is a fact that my pond has loads of newts and they are in the pond all year. Some do leave in late autumn and settle down under stones and plants but dozens of adults and zillions of youngsters stay in there all summer.
    I've heard lots of reports of this down the years and the textbooks have reference to it going way back.

    We have some smooth newts freely swimming around on New Years Eve every year. Most do leave the water and enter a 'terrestrial' stage, where they hunt on land and hibernate on land, some never seem to, here it is mostly adult females that stay active all year in the pond. 
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    edited April 2020
    Lynne Wilkins said:
    Can someone help? I have transferred all my newts from and old wildlife pond to a new shady area pond - now it has gone green even though we put loads of plants in with oxygenating weed and the newts seem to have disappeared....what have I done wrong?
    Algal bloom is normal in a new pond. It should clear but many people recommend barley straw or extracts, which do work to clear it quickly.

    A shady pond is not ideal. Newts prefer a pond that receives a lot of sun. They are cold blooded and need some warmth to be active.

    I have a feeling, they just upped and legged it if conditions did not suit them. Though it also might be very difficult to detect them in the murk of the new pond.

    In all it is better not to move things, allow a new pond to be colonized by animals that choose it. It's more fun waiting to see what comes along naturally.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,102
    GemmaJF said:
    Posy said:
    The newts may be lying low. I'm really interested in this newt  thing. Dove knows much more than I do about wildlife but it is a fact that my pond has loads of newts and they are in the pond all year. Some do leave in late autumn and settle down under stones and plants but dozens of adults and zillions of youngsters stay in there all summer.
    I've heard lots of reports of this down the years and the textbooks have reference to it going way back.

    We have some smooth newts freely swimming around on New Years Eve every year. Most do leave the water and enter a 'terrestrial' stage, where they hunt on land and hibernate on land, some never seem to, here it is mostly adult females that stay active all year in the pond. 
    Admittedly my main experience with newts was with a large colony of Gt Cresteds on our smallholding ... I’m not as aware of the Common Newts’ lifestyle, although some seem to have moved into our little wildlife pond here in the last few years. 
    😊 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Dovefromabove said:
    GemmaJF said:
    Posy said:
    The newts may be lying low. I'm really interested in this newt  thing. Dove knows much more than I do about wildlife but it is a fact that my pond has loads of newts and they are in the pond all year. Some do leave in late autumn and settle down under stones and plants but dozens of adults and zillions of youngsters stay in there all summer.
    I've heard lots of reports of this down the years and the textbooks have reference to it going way back.

    We have some smooth newts freely swimming around on New Years Eve every year. Most do leave the water and enter a 'terrestrial' stage, where they hunt on land and hibernate on land, some never seem to, here it is mostly adult females that stay active all year in the pond. 
    Admittedly my main experience with newts was with a large colony of Gt Cresteds on our smallholding ... I’m not as aware of the Common Newts’ lifestyle, although some seem to have moved into our little wildlife pond here in the last few years. 
    😊 
    Most of the reports are for small newt species, but I do remember an account at a brick works, where GCN were in the water all year round, I wondered if the sides of their pond were too steep for them to ever get out!

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,102
    There was a cottage adjoining one of our meadows which, when the new folk moved in to renovate it, took its water from a well until the mains water was laid up the track  ... they sometimes found Gt Cresteds in the well water ... but we sometimes had problems avoiding treading on them in the meadows ... and every year we’d find a few flattened and desiccated large ones under the coconut matting in the kitchen and dairy ... they obviously thought they could hibernate there. 🙄 Not sure how they snuck indoors without us seeing them tho’ ...
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Dovefromabove said:
    There was a cottage adjoining one of our meadows which, when the new folk moved in to renovate it, took its water from a well until the mains water was laid up the track  ... they sometimes found Gt Cresteds in the well water ... but we sometimes had problems avoiding treading on them in the meadows ... and every year we’d find a few flattened and desiccated large ones under the coconut matting in the kitchen and dairy ... they obviously thought they could hibernate there. 🙄 Not sure how they snuck indoors without us seeing them tho’ ...
    I've found smooth newts dried up in the bedroom, that's through the back door, into the utility room, through the kitchen door (which is mostly shut), through the kitchen and hall and up the stairs, then across the landing! Unless there is some other way they do it like crawling up the cavity wall.

    Been over 40 years now since I first started studying native reptiles and amphibians, conclusions, animals don't read text books, and all I've been left with is more questions than answers  :)
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