Country diary: Newts in the pond, commotion in the house | Mark Cocker

Buxton, Derbyshire: A glimpse of gloop in the water, a hasty net purchase, and it was confirmed – palmate newts have moved in. But how long had they been there? It has been a source of excitement for weeks that we have found ourselves custodians of newts. Judging by the numbers present and the age of our pond, they have probably been here at least a decade. Yet neither our neighbours nor our predecessors at the address knew of any. I happened to notice a gloop of air rise at the pond surface. That glimpse triggered a few minutes’ scrutiny, and lo, there it was: a palmate newt. It led to a hasty net purchase. Several days later, at the first speculative sweep of the mesh, with which we had hoped to catch at least a single example, it came up with nine. They have been the talk of the house ever since. In terms of scarcity, it is the middle one among our national trio (common, palmate and great crested). Palmate is smaller than its relatives – and the male is significantly smaller than his partner. They also acquire fewer of the extravagant colours or corrugated frills that adorn the tails and mantles of the other species. The most prominent feature on a female, aside from her swollen