LIZARDS

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Home Page Pond Clearance here	On May 5th Nick and Jack volunteered to do some clearance in the grounds. While doing this clearance they discovered about twelve very young newts plus some baby lizards in  woodland. We don't yet know whether these are common newts or great crested newts. Time will tell! Read about common lizards here and here	The common lizard

SPOT THE BABY NEWTS! Click the pictures to enlarge them and to see some of the baby newts Unfortunately we didn't have a camera handy to photograph the lizards. The lizard, being a reptile and thus cold-blooded, is unable to control its own internal temperature, and is reliant on the weather conditions for controlling its routine and behaviour. Lizards are only active between spring and autumn. In early spring lizards start to emerge from their hibernation, at first tending to spend a lot of time basking in the sun, making use of the shade during the mid-day heat, using their wide-spreading clawed toes to grip and climb up banks and over rocks. Lizards spend the night under rocks, stones or whatever cover is available. As the weather gets warmer they are known to use more shaded areas. May 4th was a particularly warm day at Ringwood (24oC where the lizards were found) and May 5th was only slightly cooler at 21oC The young lizards are therefore enjoying the shelter provided by rotten wood. When it cools again around September and October, they revert back to basking in the sun. As autumn ends, they climb into cracks or under rocks or large stones to hibernate over winter.