Most people picture a hard hat, a clipboard and a planning application when they think of ecology. Out in the field, it looks quite different. It looks like this: a great crested newt, held carefully in gloved hands, with an orange belly that looks far too bright for a pond in North Wales.
Great crested newts (GCN) are one of the animals we are asked to look for most often. They spend much of the year on land, sheltering in rough grass, log piles and hedgerows, and return to ponds to breed. That mix of habitats is why a newt can turn up on a site that looks like nothing more than a field and a pond.
Why we look
Great crested newts are a protected species, so if they might be present, they need to be considered before work begins. Our survey work includes habitat suitability index assessments, which score how suitable a pond is for newts. We also run presence and absence surveys, including eDNA (environmental DNA, where a water sample is tested for traces of the animal’s DNA). If newts are found, we design the mitigation, which can include amphibian fencing, trapping and relocation.
We also try to keep the animal’s welfare in view. Egg searches are one useful technique, but they mean carefully unfolding the vegetation where females have laid. So once eggs are found and breeding is confirmed, the search stops. We have what we need, and the newts are disturbed as little as possible.
They are not the only ones
Newts are one part of a much bigger picture. Across North and Mid Wales, our ecologists regularly work with:
- Bats, through roost assessments, emergence and dawn re-entry surveys, and static detector monitoring.
- Birds, from breeding and wintering bird surveys to specific Schedule 1 species such as barn owl and goshawk.
- Badgers, using walkover surveys supported by camera and sand traps.
- Dormice, with nest tubes and dormouse boxes installed and monitored.
- Otters and water voles, including presence surveys and licensing support.
- Reptiles, through site assessments, presence surveys and mitigation design.
Each species has its own habits, its own survey methods and its own seasonal windows. That is why we like to be involved early. A survey booked at the right time is usually simple. One that is missed can hold up a whole project.
What this means for you
You do not need to become an ecologist to work with us. If you have been told you need a survey, or you are not sure what is on your land, we can explain what is needed, why, and when, in plain English.
If you would like to talk it through, get in touch.