Our first

say hello to our first entry!

 

PARADISE FOR NEWTS AND FROGS AT SINGLETON ENVIRONMENT CENTRE!

 

The other day I visited our precious reserve for great crested newts. In fact I was lucky enough to see 4-5 of them! I was greeted by thousands and thousands of tadpoles so this year should be a great year for frogs.

I once again point out that the logo competition is still open

SO GET PENS AND PENCILS AND START DESIGNING!

And you don't have to be a child to get involved adults go ahead!

Best idea becomes the new logo. Runners up get put into the gallery of all the entries with 2nd,3rd and 4th places included. But the art doesn't have to stop there! Send in photos and drawings of newts, frogs, lizards, all kinds of nature and enjoy yourself!

Send all your images and even ideas to help improve the blog to:

 

imaginethegreenearth@gmail.com

Always ask parents/guardians for permission first!



HELLO newt lovers!

It is going to be that wonderful time again when I go searching for newt colonies in my area!

If any readers are interested in finding them well comment where you found them and what species they are try to send in a picture too!

 

 

Now it's competition time!!!!

We need a logo for SaveourKentishnewts so get drawing!

Send in your ideas [ to imaginethegreenearth@gmail.com ] and the best one will be the new logo!

Add your name and area and you will be mentioned in one of my posts.

 

Try to advertise this competition over Kent we want all the entries we can.

GET DRAWING!

I cannot wait to see all your entries!

With the runners up we will make a newt-tastic gallery

Now I know this blog is about newts and amphibians but I'd quite like to mention butterflies. I have found a huge number of butterflies close to my home and also a large number of cabbage whites in my garden so I've taken the caterpillars and the eggs off my cabbage and radishes and made a butterfly house!

Also I thought people might be wondering what those annoying yellow and black caterpillars are from. Well I've got the answer! They're cinnabar moth caterpillars and sadly their favourite food is ragwort which is sadly invading our gardens and our beautiful [but slowly disappearing] countryside!


cabbage white                                                cinnabar moth

                             HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT BEING ONE OF               

                              NEWT'S NEIGHBOURS?

FROGS:

Despite peoples common beliefs, the common frog spends most of its life on land but between January and March they gather in shallow pools to spawn. When it's quiet you can hear the buzzing-like croak of the males as they pair with the females. Newly hatched tadpoles swarm but as they grow, they grow secretive and hide from fish, newts and dragonfly nymphs.

 

After some thought I have decided to design this character to represent SaveourKentishnewts.

                                                       

On 10.06.13 (10th of June) I went hunting for newts. We found two types of newt- the palmate newt and the common or smooth newt, living together quite happily. We discovered them in places near houses in small streams and culverts. 

The quality of the living conditions were staggering, with large amounts of rubbish and oil rising from the mud!

 They also had some alien-like neighbours in the form of large, grey insect larvae.

More of their neighbours were a huge collection of freshwater shrimp (gammarus) and a large family of back-water boatmen, a threat to young newt larva.


 Despite all the debris, I found a healthy colony of newts with plenty of food and hiding places which was very pleasing. The newt spends most of its time in water and they occasionally rise to the surface to catch a breath of air. Below is a video of a palmate newt taking that ever-so important breath.

Please check 'imaginethegreenearth' for more updates in the near future!