Dragons in the City!
Well not entirely true but I was lucky enough to have been involved as part of Froglife’s ongoing partnership with Spitalfields City Farm in the restoration of their wildlife ponds, home to the dragon-like Great Crested Newt and also a generous population of smooth newts.
James checking our resident newt population.
Female (L) and male (R) Great Crested Newts.
Great Crested Newts are the biggest newt species in the UK. They have been around for approximately 40 million years but have seen a massive decline in numbers over the last forty years due to a variety of reasons, among them habitat fragmentation and the loss of good quality breeding ponds. This is why the wildlife ponds at the farm are so important, and the population that reside there.
Over two days during winter, one of the ponds at Spitalfields City Farm received some general maintenance and the surrounding terrestrial habitat enhanced for its amphibian residents with the help of a voluntary corporate group.
Corporate volunteers from Brewin Dolphin helping restore a pond in the Wildlife Garden.
An existing pond that had come to the end of its life was restored with the installation of a new liner, a covering of subsoil and the addition of numerous hibenacula in anticipation of new inhabitants moving in.
We are extremely excited to see how the ponds mature and look forward to our next encounter with the Spitalfields City Farm Dragons!
- James McAdie, F.E.S. Operations Manager
The Wildlife Garden pond ready for new plants and residents!
The Grass Road pond, our main breeding area for Great Crested Newts.