Palmate Newt has bitten off more than it can chew

I noticed this newt having a feast on my garden path during the evening of 27th January. When it is fairly mild you have to be careful where you walk at night in my garden, as there could be several newts out feeding. If it turns cold they disappear again and presumably have to go back into hibernation. I checked the pond with a torch on the same night and could see numerous newts in there appearing very active.
According to the books, they arrive at their breeding ponds from their terrestrial hibernation sites in February, although in some populations they make their way to the ponds in late autumn and spend the winter in the water. Maybe mine have arrived early or they turned up in the autumn. I will have to check the pond next year in the autumn months to get a clearer picture as to what is going on.