There was an excellent turn out for part one of our Newt Safari with Steve Joul this weekend.
We met in Old Leo’s carpark when Steve captivated the newt hunters young and old with an illustrated talk about the newts and frogs which we might find in the Leeds area. There are three native species of newt – the smooth, the palmate, and the great crested.
One of our newt traps
Fired up with excitement we then set about making newt traps from old pop bottles and canes. You get a litre or two litre pop bottle, cut off the funnel top, turn it round and then insert it into the bottom part of the bottle. You then drill holes through the side of the bottle and funnel and push a cane through to hold the funnel in place. This is then placed in the pond using the cane as a stake to fix the trap in the bottom of the pond.
Happy Hunters!
The trap is placed in the pond with the open end lower than the closed end, filling the trap with pond water, but leaving a large air bubble so that the newts can come up for air inside the trap. The idea is that the newts follow the inside of the funnel to the neck of the bottle, go through the neck into the trap and cannot find their way back out. We come back in the morning and Bob’s your uncle – we count the captured newts!
We then made our way down to Adel pond and set our traps. The maker of each trap labelled it with his or her initials or name, and we then placed twelve traps around the circumference of the pond, like the numerals of a clock face.
Steve at Eccup Whin
After setting the traps in Adel pond, your correspondent and Brian accompanied Steve to Eccup Whin – a bijou little wood off Eccup Lane – to set some traps in the pond there. This was only going to take 15 minutes, but unfortunately, once there, it took us 15 minutes to find the pond! However, the pond was well worth the effort to find. It is a little bigger in area than Adel pond and very picturesque.
Steve set nine traps in the pond, Brian picked up some litter, and your correspondent took a photo and handed out helpful advice and encouragement.
One of the highlights of the evening was to hear the beautiful bubbling sound of a curlew coming from an adjacent field. Here is the RSPB page with a recording of a curlew call:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/curlew/index.aspx
What we heard was the beautiful bubbling sound towards the end of the recording. It is amazing to think that there is a curlew living within a couple of miles of Old Leo’s. Since hearing it, a Friend has told me that she has heard a curlew on Adel Moor!!!
Having set the traps, Steve, Brian and your correspondent adjourned to our respective abodes, your correspondent to watch THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST! Because of Steve’s inability to find Eccup Whin pond, your correspondent missed the first few songs in the contest, but stayed up to see Denmark storm to a magnificent victory. On reflection, hearing the curlew made up for missing France, Lithuania and Spain.
Friends of Adel Woods 