Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) - Male
I picked Henrik up at around 13.00 and we drove to a small forest area in Lellinge, called the Sawmillground - after a short walk, we came to the first small pond, which was heavily iced by the frost from the previous night. We decided to walk to the next pond, which was also with thick ice (approx 1 cm thick). We had both brought waders, and we started to walk around the pond, looking for frogs through the ice, as we were not very succesfull with this, we crushed the ice, walking around, using our nets to try catching submerged frogs and newts. At this pond, Henrik saw one Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina), and we caught one male Crested Newts (Triturus cristatus) and a pair of Smooth Newts (Lissotriton vulgaris).
Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) - Male
At this pond we also found three kinds of Water Beetles - one of which (Agabus undulatus) is shown below. The other two species has been identified as Agabus bipustulatus and Dytiscus dimidiatus
Agabus undulatus
We drove on to two other ponds at Lellinge Overdrev, only a few kilometers away from the previous localities. The first pond, was again covered with thick ice, approximately 18-20 mm thick - and quite difficult to penetrate, to get to the animals probably hiding beneath. We caught one Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) at this pond, and a single water beetle - still to be determined to species.
The next pond, was new to Henrik, which was of course just more exciting, especially since the landowner told us, that he planed to plant a new forest, with 18 original species of threes on a large area adjacent to this pond. Prime habitat for Agile frogs (Rana dalmatina).
At this pond we found quite a lot of Waterlouse (Asellus aquaticus) - and we finally was able to catch the target for the day - Agile Frogs (Rana dalmatina) - we actually caught three of these in this pond, all hidden in the water beneath the thin ice at the sunny side of the pond (the ice was only a few millimeters at this end, but 1-2 cm at the cold end of the pond). At this pond we were also able to find 3 adult specimens of Crested Newts (Triturus cristatus) - all in all, a great success.
Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina)
Thumb of male Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina) - made for giving better hold on the female during mating
Henrik Bringsøe on the ground, photographing Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina) on the icy edge of the pond
