Habitats.

Part three the butterflies of summer grassland.

Caterpillars that eat grass give rise to some of the most common butterflies. As their food is widespread and green throughout the year, the caterpillars- and hence the butterflies- have a relatively secure future. All Britain's grass-feeding caterpillars belong to the browns or skipper families. The butterflies are on the the wing between June and September and can be seen in the corners of the field, beside country roads and anywhere else which has long grass like waste ground and old railway tracks. Three of the skippers that can be common among long grass, forever chasing each other, are the small, the large and essex skippers. They are found in open areas, like some of the brown butterflies- the small heath, the marbled white and the meadow brown. Other browns live in places sheltered from the wind. Gatekeepers and speckled woods, for example, keep to hedgerows, tracks or grassy woodland glades where they can be seen basking in the summer sun. Woodland edges and corners of fields warm up into sun traps during the summer months. Brown bubutterflies stake out their territories there, basking in the heat. Ringlets are recluses among butterflies, and prefer wet grassy hollows in or beside shady woodland. Rough open grasslands can become very hot and exposed to winds. Skippers fly fast over the grasses, and are still active on windy days . Marbled whites which belong to the brown family, are sometimes plentiful on chalk grasslands.

The salamandridae family.

Part two the great crested newt.

The great crested newt is the largest of all of the three British newts. They are found throughout the whole of Great Britain. They have dark brown backs and flanks, with large black warty spots on them. Their undersides are either yellow or orange in colour, with  large black blotches that are unique to each individual newt. You can tell the sexes apart from the size of their spots with males having the larger spots.The males can also be told apart from the females by their jagged crest that runs along their back during the breeding season, the crest is smaller along the tail which also has a silver line running along it. The females have no crest but do have a orange stripe running along tip of their tail. Like all newts they normally live on land but will return to their breeding pools to breed. Their breeding is similar to all other newts. After they have performed a courtship display, the male deposits spermataphore (a small packet of sperm) from his cloaca (reproductive and excretory opening) into her path. He will then move sideways in front of her to encourage her into position where the spermataphore will be picked up by her cloaca. No actual mating take place. The females then lays between two to three eggs a day on submerged aquatic plants between March and July. All of the eggs are wrapped carefully in individual leaves. The efts (larvae) hatch after about three weeks and live in the pond as aquatic predators feeding on tadpoles and worm and insect larvae. They are preyed on by fish, so they are rarely in rivers. lakes or garden ponds. After metamorphosis into air breathing juveniles after about four months, they live a mainly terristrial life. They may move up to eight hundred meters from the pond. After about two to three years they reach maturity and return to the same pond to breed. The young and the juveniles spend most of their time in dense cover outside of the breeding season which will include scrub,rough grassland and woodland, rocks and logs are perfect shelter for them. The adult is completely poisonous so is preyed on by very few things, but the efts are not so they will be eaten by fish, rats and grass snakes. They may live for about ten years in the wild. The juveniles and the adults feed on other newts, tadpoles, froglets, worms, insects larvae and water snails. Thet hibernate during winter under logs and rocks or in the mud at the bottom of their breeding pools. They are protected by law.

Habitats.

Part two the garden pond.

Garden ponds have become life savers for Britain's frogs,newts and toads in the past thirty years. This is because so many of farm and village ponds have been filled in or polluted. Garden ponds will also benefit gardeners because the amphibians they attract will eat slugs, snails and insects. Ponds will attract bathing birds like blackbirds, which in turn may feed on tadpoles. Grass snakes may also be seen in the pond. Foxes may also be seen drinking from our garden ponds. If a pond has smooth sides then hedgehogs may fall into them but can`t climb out, this may cause them to drown. But by putting a little bit of wire mesh, hanging in the water on one corner will enable them to escape. Whether the pond is made from an old bucket or sink it will soon colonised by insects such as pond skater or lesser water boatman. May, damsel and dragon flies will also be seen flying over the pond hoping to catch flies. A few jars of natural pond water tipped into the pond will add plankton, water snails and even water beetles. Frogs and toad will eventually come across the pond, toads generally prefer deeper water to toads, so depending on the size of the pond it will determine whether you will attract toads or frogs. The frogs or toads will leave the pond,  after about two or three years they will will return to the same pond to breed. Newts to will find their own way to the pond. Long grass by the ponds edge will provide cover for the froglets when they leave the pond in June or July. Tadpoles normally prefer to be in a shallow area of the pond where it will be warmer. The resident fish will eat the tadpoles, sometimes quite a few will be taken by fish.  A rockery is a good idea for frogs and toads to hide in during the day. If there is plenty of undergrowth bank voles or wood mice may move in.