Sarah and Annie are currently out surveying ponds for Great Crested Newts using a new technique called eDNA. 31 ponds that KSCP restored or created since 2018 have been earmarked by Natural England for this process, which involves taking 20 different water samples from around each pond, adding them to special vials and sending them off to a lab. They then specifically look for GCN DNA!

While out ‘ponding’, Sarah and Annie also sweep with a net to see what sort of species are in each pond. Happily, many of the ponds are alive with lots of beasties, including newt larvae (such as the one pictured) and dragonfly nymphs. Hopefully the lab will confirm that our ponds have been visited by GCN, which will be a great result.