12 June 2009

During the recent spell of hot weather, Mark Darlaston and Adele Rennells noticed a male Blackbird visiting their Buckfastleigh garden pond and catching adult Palmate Newts – a practice Mark managed to capture in this photo.

Mark and Adele write: “The Blackbird would hop around the perimeter of the pond, then do a small plunge dive, head a neck thrust under the water and come out with a newt. This would be taken onto the lawn and dispatched and presumably taken away to feed his young. Not all attempts were successful: he sometimes missed and just got wet! In all, we witnessed five Palmate Newts taken this way. Now the weather is milder he has switched back to slugs and other invertebrates.”

Blackbird taking Palmate Newt – Buckfastleigh – © Mark Darlaston – 7 June 2009