Tiny babies!

... baby newts, that is.

It's [nearly] always nice to come home after being away. The best things at home today were a couple of tiny efts (newt babies) swimming about in the pond. Though a female Great Crested Newt can lay hundreds of eggs, the odds are stacked against her offspring. Many don't even make it past the egg stage. So fingers crossed that the two I saw today make it to adulthood.

Great Crested Newts are protected by law - you can't disturb them (or do just about anything else). It's lucky that I can get such a great view of their life cycle because the water in the pond is really clear (I don't know why - it just is). I could blabber on about the pond and the newts for hours, but maybe that's another blip for the future...

You can see the little guy's gills, as well as tiny, fragile legs which are growing. In a few months time it'll be ready to leave the water and start a new career as a landlubber.