Duckweed and newts

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davelumb
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Duckweed and newts

Post by davelumb »

I've got loads of duckweed in my pond at the moment so I got the net out to clear it out. Trouble was every scoop I was getting at least one newtlet and up to five! They seem to like being in the duckweed. Also got one adult. They're very active and won't pose nicely for the camera...

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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Lovely little creatures, newts! :thumbs:

We used to hunt for them on a little fenced reservoir on Woolwich Common as kids. (The fence looked like an impenetrable ring of viciously spiked railings, but one of them moved, so we could squeeze through! :wink: ).

I say 'hunt', but it was more search - we never took any away.
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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John Milford wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:22 -
Lovely little creatures, newts! :thumbs:

We used to hunt for them on a little fenced reservoir on Woolwich Common as kids. (The fence looked like an impenetrable ring of viciously spiked railings, but one of them moved, so we could squeeze through! :wink: ).

I say 'hunt', but it was more search - we never took any away.
I'm chuffed to have newts in my pond. I think they're thinning out the tadpoles though.

I wonder if you could still squeeze through the railings? :joker:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Steve Dennington »

Duckweed was the bane of my life for years. Even with no fish in the pond it found sufficient nutrition to carpet the surface of the pond almost all year round. Even being frozen solid in ice didn't kill it!

Last year I had a major issue with blanket weed, but the silver lining was that it starved the duckweed into extinction - hooray!

This year it's been a different issue - an algal bloom that just won't go away :no: I haven't had frogs or toads in the pond for years (no idea why), but newts are generally resident. Under that sludge though, probably not :neutral:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Bob Watson »

I hope you're not planning on building a man cave, you won't get planning permission with newts present :wink:

I don't think kids bother with stuff like that now.

We were always "wildlife" hunting. Bullheads in the local beck, a mate had a garden pond that was stuffed with sticklebacks that we caught by hand. Slow worms on holiday in Wales.

We also went "nesting" before we knew better, a big biscuit tin lined with cotton wool held our egg collection.
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Steve Dennington wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:53 -
Duckweed was the bane of my life for years. Even with no fish in the pond it found sufficient nutrition to carpet the surface of the pond almost all year round. Even being frozen solid in ice didn't kill it!

Last year I had a major issue with blanket weed, but the silver lining was that it starved the duckweed into extinction - hooray!

This year it's been a different issue - an algal bloom that just won't go away :no: I haven't had frogs or toads in the pond for years (no idea why), but newts are generally resident. Under that sludge though, probably not :neutral:
I've no fish either. There's lots of invertebrate life though - water louse, back swimmers, two types of snail, water beetles and more.
Bob Watson wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:56 -
I hope you're not planning on building a man cave, you won't get planning permission with newts present :wink:

I don't think kids bother with stuff like that now.

We were always "wildlife" hunting. Bullheads in the local beck, a mate had a garden pond that was stuffed with sticklebacks that we caught by hand. Slow worms on holiday in Wales.

We also went "nesting" before we knew better, a big biscuit tin lined with cotton wool held our egg collection.
I think kids have to be taken pond dipping these days. We used to be forever looking for sticklebacks, frog spawn and stuff. One time when we found a dead pheasant (probably roadkill) someone borrowed a steak knife from their kitchen and we cut it open to 'see what it had died from'. What horrible children we were! :laughs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by John Milford »

davelumb wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:38 -
John Milford wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:22 -
Lovely little creatures, newts! :thumbs:

We used to hunt for them on a little fenced reservoir on Woolwich Common as kids. (The fence looked like an impenetrable ring of viciously spiked railings, but one of them moved, so we could squeeze through! :wink: ).

I say 'hunt', but it was more search - we never took any away.
I'm chuffed to have newts in my pond. I think they're thinning out the tadpoles though.

I wonder if you could still squeeze through the railings? :joker:
I doubt it! :laughs:

I'm pretty sure it's not even there now Dave. It was choked with weed and drying up in the 60s, through lack of maintenance, so I suspect it is long gone, along with its great crested newt population. :sad:

Some bright sparks on Greenwich Council decided the common should be 'landscaped' decades ago. It is now criss-crossed with horrible tarmac paths with street lights and had hundreds of trees planted.

It used to be a huge wild grass habitat for skylarks, but I doubt any dare nest there now.
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Steve Dennington »

davelumb wrote: Tue May 18 2021 20:03 -
I've no fish either. There's lots of invertebrate life though - water louse, back swimmers, two types of snail, water beetles and more.
I had hundreds of water boatmen last year, that I only discovered can bite you when I was hauling out armfuls of blanket weed. Very much like a strong nettle sting!
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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John Milford wrote: Tue May 18 2021 21:04 -
davelumb wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:38 -
John Milford wrote: Tue May 18 2021 19:22 -
Lovely little creatures, newts! :thumbs:

We used to hunt for them on a little fenced reservoir on Woolwich Common as kids. (The fence looked like an impenetrable ring of viciously spiked railings, but one of them moved, so we could squeeze through! :wink: ).

I say 'hunt', but it was more search - we never took any away.
I'm chuffed to have newts in my pond. I think they're thinning out the tadpoles though.

I wonder if you could still squeeze through the railings? :joker:
I doubt it! :laughs:

I'm pretty sure it's not even there now Dave. It was choked with weed and drying up in the 60s, through lack of maintenance, so I suspect it is long gone, along with its great crested newt population. :sad:

Some bright sparks on Greenwich Council decided the common should be 'landscaped' decades ago. It is now criss-crossed with horrible tarmac paths with street lights and had hundreds of trees planted.

It used to be a huge wild grass habitat for skylarks, but I doubt any dare nest there now.
Councils can't abide 'waste' lands, yet they can be rich habitats. :sad:
Steve Dennington wrote: Tue May 18 2021 21:38 -
davelumb wrote: Tue May 18 2021 20:03 -
I've no fish either. There's lots of invertebrate life though - water louse, back swimmers, two types of snail, water beetles and more.
I had hundreds of water boatmen last year, that I only discovered can bite you when I was hauling out armfuls of blanket weed. Very much like a strong nettle sting!
I've avoided that pleasure! :laughs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Mike F »

Any idea how they got into your pond Dave??
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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rapsy wrote: Wed May 19 2021 09:24 -
Any idea how they got into your pond Dave??
They just appeared one year. probably been around all the time. There's an open ditch further up the field behind the garden, so must have come from there originally I suppose. Plenty of gaps under the fence for critters to get through.
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Size 4 treble through the top lip :exit:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by John Milford »

:pigs:

I know you're only winding Dave up Nige :wink: , but it's worth knowing that all UK newt species, not just the great crested, are protected under law. Hefty fines if you're caught with them, even dead ones.

The Americans (albeit mainly the banjo picking variety) use live 'water dogs' as bait though. (The aquatic stage of the tiger salamander).
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Mike F »

davelumb wrote: Wed May 19 2021 09:27 -
rapsy wrote: Wed May 19 2021 09:24 -
Any idea how they got into your pond Dave??
They just appeared one year. probably been around all the time. There's an open ditch further up the field behind the garden, so must have come from there originally I suppose. Plenty of gaps under the fence for critters to get through.
Id love to have some of those little fellows in my pond, but they just don't seem to appear unfortunately.
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Nige Johns wrote: Wed May 19 2021 14:05 -
Size 4 treble through the top lip :exit:
Size four single through the tail. :joker:
rapsy wrote: Wed May 19 2021 15:20 -
davelumb wrote: Wed May 19 2021 09:27 -
rapsy wrote: Wed May 19 2021 09:24 -
Any idea how they got into your pond Dave??
They just appeared one year. probably been around all the time. There's an open ditch further up the field behind the garden, so must have come from there originally I suppose. Plenty of gaps under the fence for critters to get through.
Id love to have some of those little fellows in my pond, but they just don't seem to appear unfortunately.
A mate of mine has the same problem. He's dead jealous and keeps threatening to sneak round after dark to abduct some of my newts!
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Mike F »

Newt napping! :pigs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by davelumb »

rapsy wrote: Wed May 19 2021 15:36 -
Newt napping! :pigs:
:giggle:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Kev Berry »

We have had an application from some wildlife body to dip one our waters to see if newts were present.
Apparently this stems from railway work, and newts within 250yds of railway tracks apparently like living in the ballast, so if track work is needed a wildlife officer must be on hand where newts are liable to be found

more jobs worths looking to justify their existence :laughs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Kev Berry wrote: Thu May 20 2021 14:19 -
We have had an application from some wildlife body to dip one our waters to see if newts were present.
Apparently this stems from railway work, and newts within 250yds of railway tracks apparently like living in the ballast, so if track work is needed a wildlife officer must be on hand where newts are liable to be found

more jobs worths looking to justify their existence :laughs:
All those conservation and ecology graduates need jobs, Kev. :clown:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Kev Berry »

davelumb wrote: Thu May 20 2021 14:28 -
Kev Berry wrote: Thu May 20 2021 14:19 -
We have had an application from some wildlife body to dip one our waters to see if newts were present.
Apparently this stems from railway work, and newts within 250yds of railway tracks apparently like living in the ballast, so if track work is needed a wildlife officer must be on hand where newts are liable to be found

more jobs worths looking to justify their existence :laughs:
All those conservation and ecology graduates need jobs, Kev. :clown:
They wont be getting one via us. Anyone letting these folk sniff around anywhere newts might be are inviting trouble
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Kev Berry wrote: Thu May 20 2021 17:50 -
davelumb wrote: Thu May 20 2021 14:28 -
Kev Berry wrote: Thu May 20 2021 14:19 -
We have had an application from some wildlife body to dip one our waters to see if newts were present.
Apparently this stems from railway work, and newts within 250yds of railway tracks apparently like living in the ballast, so if track work is needed a wildlife officer must be on hand where newts are liable to be found

more jobs worths looking to justify their existence :laughs:
All those conservation and ecology graduates need jobs, Kev. :clown:
They wont be getting one via us. Anyone letting these folk sniff around anywhere newts might be are inviting trouble
Sure are. They only need the slightest of toe holds to start taking over.
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Re: Duckweed and newts

Post by Freako »

Great to have them Dave, I have a few in my pond but only small numbers. Can't beat a wildlife pond.
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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Freako wrote: Thu May 20 2021 18:57 -
Great to have them Dave, I have a few in my pond but only small numbers. Can't beat a wildlife pond.
:thumbs:

I had a bloody mallard on mine today. Last time they descended on it they cleared it out of snails. :mad: And a magpie has discovered it. :guns:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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We liked collecting Frogs and Newts as kids. We used to fill small Milk churns with them then release them at the end of the day.
One day we saw a Frog bigger than our hands on the road so we got my friends younger brother as he would pick anything up.
This huge frog was put in a rabbit hutch and we filled the hutch with grass and doc leaves. We thought it would be happy but the next day it looked lonely. We gave it some friends but when we looked in on it later that day the Frog looked better but all his friends had escaped. Well we searched all afternoon and found it more friends.
After 2 days of this my mates Mother discovered our new Frog and looked at it long and hard then disappeared muttering something about "that must be the one in the post office window."
Later that day as we were finding the giant frog more friends a bloke turned up with a box and after inspecting our frog announced it was his escaped Bull Frog and it looked in really good condition.
We had a bottle of pop each and crisps from the gent and it was many years later that I realised how our innocent actions had saved the Bull Frog's life!!
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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pikin wrote: Thu May 20 2021 22:19 -
. . . . . . We gave it some friends but when we looked in on it later that day the Frog looked better but all his friends had escaped . . . .
'Escaped' :giggle:

Only if they were very quick or very lucky! :pipe:
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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John Milford wrote: Thu May 20 2021 22:51 -
pikin wrote: Thu May 20 2021 22:19 -
. . . . . . We gave it some friends but when we looked in on it later that day the Frog looked better but all his friends had escaped . . . .
'Escaped' :giggle:

Only if they were very quick or very lucky! :pipe:
:laughs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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davelumb wrote: Thu May 20 2021 19:03 -
Freako wrote: Thu May 20 2021 18:57 -
Great to have them Dave, I have a few in my pond but only small numbers. Can't beat a wildlife pond.
:thumbs:

I had a bloody mallard on mine today. Last time they descended on it they cleared it out of snails. :mad: And a magpie has discovered it. :guns:
Mallards taste lovely :laughs:
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Re: Duckweed and newts

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