pond life

...another beautifully sunny day but still accompanied by gales that, on occasion, seemed intent on relieving us of our roof. At least the wind was warmer today.

With all that air movement, it was not a day for butterflies or, indeed, insects in general, which gave me a chance to see if I could get any clearer images of the large newts that live in the olive grove cistern. On this trip, we discovered that we have at least two (we previously only ever saw one). They spend most of their time hiding in the algae or generally near the bottom. Occasionally, they will come within about 30cm of the surface, which one did this morning. I don't have a polarising filter so the bright sunlight, scummy surface and green murky water make photography a bit tricky. Consequently, this image is not as clear as I would like but it still worth a look large.

These newts are very blue to the naked eye and have a very distinctive yellow vertebral line. We spent ages trying to decide exactly what species they are and finally realised that they are Italian Crested Newts Triturus carnifex, well what else would they be in Italy :) The two that we have seen are both females and we look forward to seeing a male some day...