Common Frog Common Frog - tadpoles Common Toad Common Toad - swimming Smooth Newt - male* Smooth Newt - male - underside* Smooth Newt - male- close-up* Great Crested Newt - male* Great Crested Newt - male - underside* Great Crested Newt - male - close-up* Kingfisher eating juvenile Great Crested Newt If you have found this page using Google Image search the navigation buttons won't appear. Just delete the text after 15acresinkent in the address bar, click enter and the Home Page with the navigation buttons should appear. Common Frog Marsh Frog - relatively new to Kent and on the march! Common Toad Great Crested Newt - juvenile Smooth Newt - female* Smooth Newt - female - underside* Smooth Newt - female - close-up* Great Crested Newt - female* Great Crested Newt - female - underside* Great Crested Newt - female - close-up* Kingfisher eating Smooth Newt Predation of Great Crested Newts ( These notes have served as the basis for articles in the British Herpetological Society's Herpetological Bulletin (Summer 2007) and British Birds (May 2009) ) Great crested newts suffer from natural predation on a vastly greater scale than is generally understood. In material published by wildlife/nature organisations references can be found to the predation which is assumed to occur at the egg and larval stage but even these are somewhat vague. There is also a general assumption that the toxins in the newts protect them at the adult stage but this clearly not the case. The land on which the photographs on this website have been taken has four ponds, one of which has a significant colony of great crested newts. The pond is the original farmyard pond and is relatively modest in size, being around 25m in diameter. In order to protect the newts we have ensured that there are no fish in the pond other than a few vegetarian grass-eating carp for weed-control and there are no newts other than great crested that are resident. The following are observations on the predation that has been witnessed over a period of time, together with supporting photographs. Grass snakes There is usually at least one grass snake hunting in the pond during the summer months and often three or four. Since there are no frogs or other newts in the pond it has to be assumed that they are mainly hunting for great crested newt tadpoles or juveniles but what is perhaps surprising is that they will also catch and eat fully mature adults. The photograph below is not of brilliant quality, since it is a digital photo of a non-digital original but you can clearly see that the grass snake is in the process of devouring an adult great crested newt with all its splendid colours. Since this is has only ever been observed once in the pond it has to be assumed that the adult newts are difficult for the snakes to catch, being mainly nocturnal and only coming up quickly for air in the daytime. The photograph shows, however, that grass snakes are not bothered by the toxins. Moorhens Moorhens are not bothered by the toxins either. They do not actively hunt the newts, concentrating instead on picking away at the weed, algae and plants in the pond. They are, of course, omniverous, also eating insects, worms and even water-snails. However, they are opportunistic hunters and, as they move to and fro over the pond, they very occasionally thrust their head into the water and reappear clutching an adult newt which they have spotted coming up for air. When this happens , it causes great excitement among the other moorhens in the family and they chase after the one with the newt hoping to get a piece of the action. The photograph below shows a moorhen clutching an adult great crested newt it had just caught and, as a result, was being pursued by the other members of its family. Mallards Mallards are, perhaps, the most surprising predators. As far as I can gather, no one knows that they eat newts and, certainly, no one has photographed this happening before. They are different from moorhens in that they will actively patrol the pond looking for them. I have seen a female mallard cruising up and down the pond trying to spot the newts surfacing for air and eating about five fully grown great crested newts in the space of less than an hour. The photographs below are of a male mallard that had been hunting on the pond. Mallard having just caught a Great Crested Newt Same bird about to swallow it Herons Herons are, of course, well known amphibian predators. That being said, their visits to ponds seem to get much more frequent towards the  end of June and I had always assumed that they were interested in the juvenile newts. It seems that this is not the case as the following sequence of a Grey Heron spotting, diving for and eating an adult great crested newt was taken in the last week of June. In the last image, the  Heron is swallowing the newt whole although it took some minutes to get to that point. Kingfishers Kingfishers are more serious great crested newt predators than all the others put together. It is absolutely astonishing the quantities that are consumed and very worrying to witness what appears to be the virtual destruction of a colony. One is torn between the delight of being able to watch such spectacular birds at close quarters and the threat they pose to the newts. They visit the pond periodically throughout the year but begin to visit seriously in late June. From this time, through to the end of August , there is predation on a vast scale. The most typical visit consists of flying in, catching and eating about 10 juvenile great crested newts and flying out again. Without being able to see what is happening in the nest (on the River Teise about 1/2 a mile away) it is difficult to distinguish between personal consumption, a male feeding a female on the nest or both feeding the young. Occasionally a single bird will stay for longer; a young kingfisher recently stayed throughout the day and consumed vast quantities of juveniles. This also provided evidence of territoriality associated with the pond since, when what appeared to be the most regular adult male kingfisher arrived, the young kingfisher immediately crouched down on a branch trying to look inconspicuous but was soon spotted and chased off the pond. It was clearly chased for some distance since it was several minutes before the adult returned. During this period at least 100 juvenile great crested newts a day are being taken and this goes on day after day. It has to be hoped that the population is large enough to withstand this onslaught but it seems problematic. The predation by kingfishers seems to have increased very significantly in recent years. Unlike other predators, toxins are clearly a problem for the kingfishers. In observing a great many succesful dives for prey I have only ever seen one mistake being made. The photograph below is of an immature newt that was caught by a young kingfisher but immediately dropped like a hot potato when the kingfisher realised what it was. The photograph was taken about a minute after it happened and the newt was clearly pretty traumatised. It already has its colouring and would appear to be an immature newt, probably in its second year, that was mistaken for a juvenile as it came up for air. Although it looks dead, when I returned it to the water it swam away, apparently no worse for wear. The kingfishers' interest would therefore seem restricted to the juvenile newts and the timing in the year of the visits suggests that they attack them when they have just reached the stage of land-adapted juveniles and have to come to the surface of the pond for air. At this stage in their life newts tend to drift up rather slowly rather than the quick dash made by the adults. This is also the time of year that herons are active on the ponds and, it should be assumed that they are serious predators as well. The photos below show a kingfisher in the process of eating such a juvenile newt. Other images can be seen on the Gallery page. Kingfisher with a juvenile Great Crested Newt Same bird about to swallow it