Hi All,
A short report about my observation in central France (Indre) on late January (pictures took on January 31st)
It is a temporary pond in the woods (car track), mostly under the shadows of the trees, no aquatic plants, max depth around 15cm at that time.
That’s a spot I knew for long for its fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) larvae. And again this time I was not disappointed on that part.
What was interesting was the dozens of Lissotriton heleveticus, only males, observed roaming at night only. They were not yet with their nuptial colouration but few “interactions“ between males were witnessed.
More surprising to me: leeches!
They were relentlessly crawling on the bottom, I guess hunting for larvae or newt (??) unfortunately I did not witness any feeding.
Does anyone has already observed such leeches, or can give me the ID. Size from 5 to 15cm when fully extended
While leaving, we spotted a really huge adult fire salamander (check the newt next to its head) on the pond shore. I thought it was a female ready to deliver some larvae but I’m not sure about that. Did not disturb it too long.