Newt Headlines

Pond Newts- train to be a professional Newt worker

FSC Preston Montford runs various courses to train people to work with newts and the next one is taking place from April 23^rd-25^th. There are still a couple of places left on this course which will be lead by Jackie Underhill who is a vastly experienced and respected Newt worker.

To make sure the course runs successfully Preston Montford staff visited key sites in the area to check that there are still ponds with water in them. The long period of dry weather has been causing concern to people who worry about Newts: Drying out of ponds whether from natural or human causes is a major reason why newts are under threat and in need of serious protection.

The good news is that despite the dry winter the sites had enough water in to support their newt populations, a situation that has been further improved by rain in the first part of April- so the course is happening and the people lucky enough to participate will take a major step towards gaining a licence to work with Great Crested Newts.

The photographs show two of the ponds,  one at a cliff site near Llanymynech and the other a specially constructed pond in the grounds of FSC Preston Montford. If you are interested in taking part in the course please contact the field centre at FSC Preston Montford directly.

Adrian Pickles

e-mail address:  enquiries.pm@field-studies-council.org or telephone the Centre on 01743-852040