Great crested newt survey in Wiltshire

Great crested newts seem to be thriving in Wiltshire. Credit David Kilbey/WWT.

June 2009. Great crested newts are thriving in the Braydon Forest area of north Wiltshire a survey by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reveals. The Trust has just completed a survey of 38 farm ponds in the area and found that 10 of them are populated by these distinctive amphibians, with their dark bodies, orange spotted bellies and in the case of the male, jagged crests that run along their back and tails.

Habitat and population decline
Although an internationally important species protected by European law, numbers of these newts have declined as a result of changes to their habitat caused by shifts in land use and farming practices. Now the restoration of ponds under the Trust's Landscapes for Wildlife Project is helping to bring them back.

"It seems we have a healthy population of great crested newts in the area, but we still need to restore more ponds to expand their numbers," says Landscapes for Wildlife Project Officer Paul Darby.

Live mostly on land
The great crested newt spends most of its life on land before seeking out ponds between February and April in which to breed. After mid summer, the newts move out of ponds and forage in grassland for small invertebrates to eat, hiding under stones, old logs, dense scrub, long grass and even flower pots in gardens until the following spring.

A special license is required for handing Great crested newts. Credit Lysana Robinson/WWT.

"Males need such open water to perform a complicated courtship dance in which it waves its tail a lot. The females lay fertilised eggs individually on the leaves of submerged plants. Our survey shows that great crested newts are now occupying this pond, which is fantastic news.

"Of course restoring ponds helps all sorts of other wildlife too, and smooth newts, palmate newts, toads and frogs are all benefiting from the project's work in the area, along with dragonflies and some birds."

Farmers can get funding for pond restoration
The fact that farmers can now get money for restoring ponds for newts under the Government's Higher Level Stewardship Scheme will also aid their recovery. For people not in this scheme the Living Landscapes Project can also provide capital grants for pond restoration work.

Only licence holders are allowed to disturb great crested newts. The main survey season is between February to June and Paul and volunteers spent many evenings exploring the fringes of ponds in torchlight.

"They are more active in the dark as they are less vulnerable to being preyed on by birds such as herons and kingfishers," he says.

Widespread in UK
Although great crested newts are quite widespread in Britain, they are threatened in several European countries where they have been killed off by the destruction of their habitat.

Despite their protected status their breeding ponds and the surrounding habitats are still being lost or fragmented, often by being built on. The ponds are affected by water-borne pollution from industry and roads, and by neglect or insensitive management.

Braydon Forest
The patchwork of meadows, woodlands and hedges that make up the Braydon Forest is a rich resource of wild animals and plants, but for the most part they are confined to small pockets of habitat scattered throughout the area. Landscapes for Wildlife aims to expand and link these areas within and alongside farming operations.