On 9th May this year we saw loads of newts in a puddle on a high track through Rhidorroch Estate. Today I looked without much hope for newt tadpoles - and was surprised to see a few, with their feathery external gills just visible. The pond skater in the bottom right-hand corner shows how tiny the tadpole is.
There were not many, given the number of newts we saw in May; and I doubt if even these will survive.
An incident that I forgot to mention on my blog from England was the lamb in the river at Cuckmere Haven. We heard the frantic bleating of many sheep on the far bank, and realised that a lamb was standing in the shallow water, unable to climb out onto the bank. It looked easy, but the lamb was quite portly and while it several times got its forelegs up, the plump back half of the animal didn't seem to want to follow; and it would gradually slip back in, while its fellow lambs stood around baa-ing. The older sheep made their way past this youthful mishap and proceeded along the bank, bleating (in sympathy?) but still feeding as they went. Quite a crowd collected behind us as the cacophony of bleats grew in volume. What made it funnier was the range of bleats - little high squeaky bleats, deep resonant bleats, and wavering neurotic bleats. Eventually the lamb scrambled out and a big cheer went up from our side of the river. The other lambs seemed really pleased their mate had rejoined them on the bank, and all the noise died down. The daft thing was, if the lamb had walked a little way upstream, it could have just walked out of the water!
We walked off, mindful that even in hot weather we'd never seen sheep wading or paddling as cattle do. Now we know why.
