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for the species in 1985 came from Littley
Green, near Great Waltham, Thorrington and
Stansted. The splendid drawing on the
cover of the Bulletin shows the male with
breeding crest and the female who is
engaged in egg laying. This, the largest
of our three newts is easy to identify,
being large (up to 155 mm) and black in
colour with an orange belly. The male has
a silver stripe in his tail and, of course,
a crest on the back and separately on the
tail in the breeding season. Most of our
records of Great Crested Newts come from
the southern half of the county, but I am
sure there are many more to be found, and
even the most uninteresting pools are worthy
of examination by netting.
The Smooth, or Common, Newt is the most
widespread in Essex, occurring in all ponds
including small garden ones. Records
exist for most of the 10 km. squares.
Smaller in size than the Great Crested Newt
the adult grows up to 104 mm. The male
has a continuous breeding crest joining the
body with the tail, and both sexes have
spotted throats. Their tails are longer
than the head and body length and the female
has a low ridge of skin down the back.
The smallest of our three Newts, the Palmate,
is very local and uncommon in Essex, but
again we need more records. It is the
most common newt in Epping Forest and it
seems to prefer more upland areas. I have
received no records at all for this Newt
in 1985, the main problem being, I think,
difficulty in identification. This is made
easier if one finds Smooth and Palmate