IT WAS a puddle, no more than that; a water-filled wheel rut on an upland forestry track in the Ochils, yet this little pool surged with life.

It was the palmate newts that first drew my eye, five of them lying on the muddy bottom. These newts had gathered to mate and the males inhabiting the puddle were resplendent in their breeding finery of heavily spotted tails.

I’m not sure why they had chosen this watery wheel rut to breed, as it will almost certainly dry-out in the months to come, thus spelling trouble for their tadpoles.

Newts are certainly most intriguing creatures. Indeed, for many of us, their mysterious nature is best remembered in the famous incantation of the three witches stirring the boiling cauldron in Shakespeare’s Macbeth where along with “wool of bat” and “tongue of dog”, the ingredients included “eye of newt”.

I suspect newts hold such bewitching qualities because of their ability to regrow toes, or even complete legs that have become lost or damaged.

Having finished watching the newts, I sat by the puddle for a while longer. Several pond skaters glided upon the water’s surface.

Their long legs are adapted to detect vibrations on the water surface and thus obtain prey by snatching small insects that have fallen in.

The middle pair of legs acts like oars to provide propulsion, with the back pair taking on the role of a rudder.

A tiny dervish of a creature whizzed across the surface in a haphazard manner. It was a whirligig beetle, the crazy dog of the insect world, which likes nothing better than to gyrate about in the most bizarre fashion. Where does it get all that energy from?

It was astonishing the amount of life this little water-filled wheel rut supported. As I got up to leave, a buzzard soared above me and a raven wheeled over a nearby ridge.

It had been a most satisfying 20 minutes of wildlife watching.

@BroomfieldKeith