I am kind of going back and forth about posting from Flickr. On the one hand, posting here directly does let people view selected pictures in a larger format. But posting from Flickr lets one alternate pictures with text.
Anyway... Here are more pictures from last August. There is still a lot more to do!

First up is a cute little planthopper which looks like Jikradia olitoria.
Plant hopper by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Many flies are actually rather striking or even beautiful. This marsh fly (Tetanocera something-or-other) is one of the 'striking' ones, I suppose, but I am also rather fond of them since this species is one of the first that I had photographed in this hobby.
Marsh fly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Butterflies that have wing damage seem to evince a life that has been well lived. This viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) really shows it has been around the block a few times. It was foraging on flowers in the same direction that I was ‘foraging’ across a field, so we kept bumping into each other for a couple hours.
Viceroy butterfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

A friend of mine from work knew of my… peculiar interests … so she gave me a box of dirt that had a pupating Sphinx moth. That did not work out (the pupa was badly deformed and so it would never come out well), but when inspecting it I noticed this furtive movement on the dirt. It was this cool bug that I had never seen before! Meet the evocatively named “masked hunter” (that is its real common name). These are wingless assassin bugs that decorate their bodies with soil particles as camouflage. The Latin name is Reduvius personatus.
Masked hunter by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

The final picture shows a common weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus. I like weevils (they are widely liked by the macro crowd), but I do wish to find the acorn weevils which are the ones with a super long snout. They should be around here since we have lots of oak trees.

I am kind of going back and forth about posting from Flickr. On the one hand, posting here directly does let people view selected pictures in a larger format. But posting from Flickr lets one alternate pictures with text.
Anyway... Here are more pictures from last August. There is still a lot more to do!

First up is a cute little planthopper which looks like Jikradia olitoria.
Plant hopper by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Many flies are actually rather striking or even beautiful. This marsh fly (Tetanocera something-or-other) is one of the 'striking' ones, I suppose, but I am also rather fond of them since this species is one of the first that I had photographed in this hobby.
Marsh fly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Butterflies that have wing damage seem to evince a life that has been well lived. This viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) really shows it has been around the block a few times. It was foraging on flowers in the same direction that I was ‘foraging’ across a field, so we kept bumping into each other for a couple hours.
Viceroy butterfly by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

A friend of mine from work knew of my… peculiar interests … so she gave me a box of dirt that had a pupating Sphinx moth. That did not work out (the pupa was badly deformed and so it would never come out well), but when inspecting it I noticed this furtive movement on the dirt. It was this cool bug that I had never seen before! Meet the evocatively named “masked hunter” (that is its real common name). These are wingless assassin bugs that decorate their bodies with soil particles as camouflage. The Latin name is Reduvius personatus.
Masked hunter by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

The final picture shows a common weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus. I like weevils (they are widely liked by the macro crowd), but I do wish to find the acorn weevils which are the ones with a super long snout. They should be around here since we have lots of oak trees.

Newts can lay eggs up till July mainly in the north of the British isles that is why many over winter, in fact where Brenda lives most leave the ponds in the same year. (Check out the link again and down load the IDGuideNewtEggs&Larvae.pdf doc) https://www.arguk.org/info-advice/id-guides/11-newt-eggs-and-larvae-identification-guide

Most ponds that were surveyed contained a few species of fish some with large numbers of them, these and dragon fly nymph take a large toll of newt nymphs but the populations have remained stable over many years.

PS: most pond surveys are carried out on a night-time with torches, especially for Great Crested.

Correct about midge larva (I believe after more looking that those are Chironomidae). But no harm done if frog or toad. To NOT if they are salamanders and they probably would die.
Now, the timeline. These eggs are 'hatching'. They were probably laid about 20 or 21 Feb. This also fits with the fact that most salamanders are early breeders. And if these were frogs or toads you would have heard them in February.
Playing Sherlock Holmes a bit here😀
Bill
PS. A hydrogen peroxide bath and distilled water rinse is my normal for adding plants to an aquarium. Obviously I couldn't boil them if they were to grow. Clean hands and tools a must if working in an aquarium.
I eat the store bought greens raw, so hope they are already clean enough to feed other animals (like guests).
A final thought. Hay in water produces lots of tiny organisms. Food for the tadpoles. Use an eyedropper.

Actually, bird photographers are not called birders. We are called bird photographers, or wildlife photographers.

If you talk to a birder, most do not take pictures of them or if they do, it's only to document the sighting and not to get a nice photo. They are really into knowing a birds habitat, it's call, their habits, their scientific names, just about everything. Most bird photographers will photograph a bird from each angle, in good and bad light and try to get just the right shot so that it's very pleasing in appearance when viewed on a computer or in a frame. Most birders do NOT like bird photographers. Bird photographers don't mix well with birders. I feel that most are snobbish, they make too much noise when they see a bird, and many lead large groups of other birders that are a bit disruptive. At the same time, when a bird is discovered that has some photographic appeal, too many disruptive photographers show up and ruin opportunities for other photographers. We found a nesting Bald Eagle pair recently and some jerks flew drones up to the nest. Some photographers tried to get closer by going on the other side of the fence. Some were parking their cars in the middle of the highway and causing a huge danger to other motorists. Ugh! That's the way people are!