Here’s one of those “missed it by that much” shots. The diopter on the EVF got bumped on the hike in and I didn’t detect it until after I encountered this chap. As you can see, the plane of critical focus is inside where I intended (and it’s always so narrow with macro). I thought the subject interesting enough to show it anyway.
http://www.hotspot-online.net/Video/Red_Eft_6.mp4

Red-spotted newts (Notopthalmus viridescens) have an interesting life style. The eggs and larvae are aquatic. After several weeks or months they metamorphose into a terrestrial juvenile called a Red Eft. At this stage they may disperse up to 20 miles. After 2-3 years they metamorphose again. They retain the red spots, but the background orange color becomes dull olive green, the toes become webbed, and the tail becomes dorso-ventrally flattened into a paddle. The adults are aquatic and may live up to 20 years. Notice how the eft walks with it’s elbows and knees up like a crocodilian. The color is aposomatic- a warning to predators that the skin secretions are poisonous. As a result, they are bold aggressive little predators in the leaf litter. Overall length 4.5 cm.

Wish I could describe Smooth Newts life cycle as you did for Red Eft, Mike, but here's a brief clouded clip instead...


Smooth Newt on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/3768835/l:transcoded_email)

Very cool Brendan. They’re in the same family- Salamandridae. I wish I had something like that in my garden pond! Smooth Newts (also known as Common Newt) have an interesting mating display which is often illustrated in books on animal behavior.

It is interesting enough indeed! What a fab little chap and the footage looked Ok despite what you descibe. Thanks for posting Mike

Mike,

Very nice!! a new species for me to see.
we have tiger salamanders here in our garden pond. this is so beautiful in comparison!!

While re-reading this I realize that I made a missleading statement. I should have said that the adults are semi-aquatic. While they do spend most of their time in the water and can respire entirely through their skin, they can and do breath air and occasionaly haul out on land. I hope to post some video of the adults soon.