I'm glad you're enjoying the pics.

That's the way the grass snake's head normally looks. They're quite beautiful; the yellow patches vary in shade and intensity -- they're useful for identifying individuals.

Here are some more herp pics; I've also got landscape pics, but I'll have to dig those up & post them later, since I'm supposed to be working now. Without further ado, Lacerta vivpara, one of the two native lizards. This is the most common reptile in Finland. As the name indicates, they give birth to live young. Actually, all of the Finnish reptiles except the grass snake are viviparous.

A pair of L. vivipara I found hibernating under a rock last field season:


And a wandering individual I found near the boats this year:


I'll put up some landscapes (summer, fall and winter) later, I promise!