Photos: Sunbathing Saaremaa adder heralds the arrival of spring
Signs of spring on the island of Saaremaa this week included the appearance of a European adder (Vipera berus), also known as a Common European Viper, as snapped by ERR correspondent Margus Muld.
Muld said Tuesday's temperatures of +10C on Estonia's largest island likely attracted the snake, which was sunning itself (see photos) and which is in any case is seen as a traditional harbinger of spring.
Kuressaare, Saaremaa's capital, gets on average more hours of sunshine than most other towns in Estonia, the state weather service said back in 2017; the town's mayor at the time, current environment minister Madis Kallas (SDE), proclaimed Kuressaare the sunshine capital of Estonia, as a result of this news.
Snowdrops have also appeared on the island, Muld added, though the spring arrival of hepaticas has yet to materialize.
Muld's first adder pictures last year came a fortnight earlier, on March 1, though Estonia had been in the grip of late winter cold temperatures until this week.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
