Finding eastern newts

[caudatadude28]

Tomarrow I am going to a some fishless ponds to find and observe some eastern newts.(I have never found/saw an eastern newt in person) Do you have any suggestions. Should I look in deep water or shallow? weedy or mucky? sandy? cold or warm? clear or murky?

 

[katebutton]

i know that central newts are abundant in shallow fishless ponds that have a lot of aquatic vegetation...i don't think temp matters much because they're active year round and i've found them swimming around when the water had some ice coverage. eastern newts are probably about the same.

 

[Sean Brady]

Eastern Newts are my favorite. SInce I was little, I would find them abundantly at my camp in the Adirondacks of NY. So anyways, Eastern Newts, also known as Red-spotted Newts, live their life in two stages. After their larva stage (in which they look like any other salamander while in its larva stage), they move to land and become a bright orange with red spots along their sides. They would be found under logs or mosses or even out in the open if it had just rained. But from what you said, I am guessing you are looking for the aquatic stage Eastern Newt. In this stage they are a green to dark green color again with the red dots along the side. They also have a yellow belly with black dots. In some ponds such as at my camp, they can be found simply swimming around, sitting on the bottom, or going up for air at the surface. They also like to sit on plant stems and branches in the ponds. Usually, there is no need to lfip over any log or rock in the pond because they like to bask in the sunlight.
Hope this Helps!

Sean

 

[distefan]

Also my favorites, and I have the same experience as Sean's in seeing them. I've seen them mostly in clear water as opposed to murky, though they never seem too concerned with a bit of algae. They definitely love clinging to the plant stems and branches, though they also will just sit still on the bottom. They never seem particularly hidden unless disturbed, but they are well camouflaged with their greenish coloring. Water depth seems to vary: I've seen them from shore in less than a foot (sometimes in plants, sometimes not) and I've seen them while canoeing in up to about 4 feet or so (on sandy bottoms with only a little vegetation).

Good luck. It's great to see these guys in their natural habitat.

 

[monkeyfrogman28]

I cheat hahaha, I wait for rainy nights and scoop them up along with other critters.

 

[swede]

I love the way the red eft stage looks on the eastern newt! Its kinda opposite of most juvi phases since it doesn't camouflage the newt. did you have any luck finding any?

 

[easternnewt]

I recently traveled to New Hampshire to camp near a pond. In the pond we saw tons of Eastern newts (red-spotted). They were all in water about 1/2-1 foot deep, and seemed to be perfectly happy on sand, rotting leaves, or hiding in aquatic plants. There were definitely more around in the morning and evening, when the water was cooler.

Also - point of interest - central newt is just another name for eastern newt, according to the caudata culture section of the site.

 

[jbherpin]

No, Central Newt is refering to a subspecies of the Eastern, or Red-Spotted Newt.

-jbherpin-

 

[Nathan]

"Eastern Newt" is the common name for the species. Red-spotted, Central, Broken-striped, and Peninsula newts are subspecies. Some people use "Red-spotted Newt" as the common name for the species, but this is incorrect, as the other subspecies don't necessarily have red spots.

Anyhow, I find that newts in my area may be found in water that is clear or turbid, vegetated or unvegetated, sunny or shady, over any kind of substrate, with or without fish. The only waters that don't support them are flowing water and large open waters.

However, they seem to reach highest abundances in clear, permanent or semi-permanent, fish-free woodland ponds that are heavily used as breeding sites by other amphibians. They may also be quite abundant in cattle ponds, but this seems to be more hit-or-miss. Duckweed or mosquito fern often mark good newt habitat, but they may be found in unvegetated ponds as well. Weedy edges of swamps and backwaters usually have small numbers of newts; these individuals are often much larger and more attractively patterned than pond newts.