My first sighting of Vipera berus 2010
25/03-2010 - Odsherred Denmark
This is not an actual field report, it is just a short story for documentation:
Today I was late home from work; it was the sunniest day of the year so far, so I could not wait to get home. When got to my apartment I received a call from C. Nielsen, the sun was almost gone at that point, (the clock was approx. 18:00 pm). Even so we decided to visit the local basking spot, although evening dusk was approaching. C. Nielsen had already been there for about two hours and during his exploration he found approximately 18-20 adders. So I was hopefull that we might get the last peek at the snakes. Luckily, despite my late working hours, it turned out to be quite a good day anyway. In a matter of 10 minutes we found several Vipera berus in the sparse and frugal vegetation of the basking spots. The snow had long since disappeared from the area. I was surprised how warm the soil and rocks felt from heating in the sun - the adders temperature seemed very high if time and season is taken into consideration. I only saw dirty and weary males, no females. There was no lacerta agilis, natrix natrix or anguis fragilis to be found at the location this day, (there aren’t no amphibians native to the precise location). The wind was calm and the sky was cloudless. The temperature was as high as 17°C in some parts of the country, at the herpspot it was approxiately 15°C.
Bad pictures
The trip was a sudden decision without any preparations. Therefore the images became very poor. The sun and time was against me - and I would not stress the "weary" snakes at all, so the pictures did not became very good
C. Nielsen scouting for herps | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Links to more:
Watch the weather report from 25/02-10 on internet TV - http://sputnik-dyn.tv2.dk/play/vejret-14288/
The weather of march 2010 - http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/ekstreme_ekstremer_i_marts_2010
Danish field reports from other Danish herpers can be found at many places, for example www.nhf.dk/ and www.fugleognatur.dk/
Update: 30-03-2010 - later same week.
Today it was 9 degrees hot when I left my apartment for a short field trip. The weather was fine but unfortunately there where many clouds covering the sky. The wind was light, so I chose to go to the coastal line. Unfortunately I did not find as many surprises as I had anticipated, but I saw a single Natrix natrix. The snake disappeared so quickly that my pictures became completely useless. Nevertheless it was a pleasure to see that they finally appeared. There were no Lacerta agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis fragilis to find on the trip, which was slightly depressing. Fortunately I saw a lot of Vipera berus - at least 15 I think.
So I “only” found Vipera berus today, but anyway here is the pictures
Today it was 9 degrees hot when I left my apartment for a short field trip. The weather was fine but unfortunately there where many clouds covering the sky. The wind was light, so I chose to go to the coastal line. Unfortunately I did not find as many surprises as I had anticipated, but I saw a single Natrix natrix. The snake disappeared so quickly that my pictures became completely useless. Nevertheless it was a pleasure to see that they finally appeared. There were no Lacerta agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis fragilis to find on the trip, which was slightly depressing. Fortunately I saw a lot of Vipera berus - at least 15 I think.
So I “only” found Vipera berus today, but anyway here is the pictures
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010
Vipera berus | © Mikkel Frederiksen 2010