Following on from our February meeting were we noted how few and far between fieldfares seem to be this winter, Colin sent in a note of a flock of around 70 at Altofts canal and around 60+ wigeon there too

Today I noticed that two common newts have emerged from hibernation and found their way to my garden pond at Wrenthorpe.  The pond, although tiny in size, has been visited by a small population of newts each spring to breed for the past thirty years. The newts are also occasionally found hiding away under stones and leaf litter.  On land they look very much like lizards.  However, they move slowly and obviously do not enjoy the sun like lizards.  The photo here is of a common newt found in the garden hiding under some stones on 10th April during 2011.