First signs of spring

In this weeks edition:

It’s time to walk (or skate) on water

Fire sculptures in the snow

WILD FOCUS: The middle of winter and the first signs of spring?

It’s time to walk (or skate) on water in Viljandi

From the 8th to the 16th of January, an ice skating track will be officially open in the evenings for skating on Lake Viljandi (Viljandi järv), the long, narrow and and deep natural lake within the Viljandi primeval valley in southern Estonia. Last Saturday was the annual Lake Viljandi speed skating marathon and photos from this event can be seen here

Photo by Elmo Riig, Sakala

The lake is edged by snowy forest and the town of Viljandi sits upon the shores of the north western side of the lake. Viljandi is also home to the Estonian Tradtitonal Music Centre , Tartu University’s Culture Academy and the ruins of a once extensive Hanseatic castle. For more information, please contact the Viljandi Tourist Information Centre

Soon, the frozen surface of the Baltic Sea will also sturdy enough along the coast so that trip-skating will be possible between mainland Estonia and the larger islands. Wild Estonia Weekly will definitely be reporting on this in future editions.

Fire sculptures in the snow

In January the Tallinn Light Festival (Tallinna Valgusfestival) will be running for its eleventh year and will be host to some wild and spectacular fire sculpture events.

Students’ Fire Sculpture Celebration – 15th January 2011 On Saturday, students will be building fire sculptures from natural materials like wood, string, thatch and old Christmas trees. The celebration will provide an enthralling experience, during which the viewers will see hundreds of individual sculptures coming to life in flames. The event is free of charge. For more information, please visit the Tallinn Light Festival website.

1st World Fire Sculpture Championship – 16th and 22nd January 2011 Tallinn will host the very first World Fire Sculpture Championship! Fire sculpture masters from South-Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, France, Mexico, USA, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will be competing. The first round of the Championship takes place in Tallinn on 16th January and the final round takes place on 22nd January. The event is free of charge. Please visit the Tallinn Light Festival website, for more information.

Fire sculpture is a powerful but transient art form that has become widespread in the world over the past few decades, and has mainly been revived by a group of Swedish artists. The tradition of burning fir trees in winter however is related to pre-Christian folk traditions: in order to revere and invigorate the sun, people lit ’fires of joy’. People believed that lighting fires during the dark winter period would help the sun to grow strong, protecting the land from the cold and the evil spirits.

WILD FOCUS: The first signs of spring?

For thousands of years Estonians have maintained a close relationship with the land and have developed a deep understanding of the seasons. Despite the centuries old trend towards urbanisation, many Estonians are still likely to know and make use of this knowledge which was developed and passed on over many generations.

According to this wisdom, this week is considered to mark the middle of winter as we will soon be seeing the first subtle signs that spring is coming. Mid-winter day is known in Estonian as ‘korjusepäev’ or ‘taliharjapäev’. There are of course old stories connected with every seasonal change and it is said that now is the time for bears to roll over in their dens and sleep on their other side

It would be a little risky for the Wild Estonia Weekly team to check how our local bears are sleeping, but thankfully there is another sign that spring is on its way: the drumming sound of the Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) (Listen to it here ). These black, crow-sized birds with a striking red crown stay-put over winter so they are one of the first birds in Estonian forests to start preparing for spring.

Photo by Jari Peltomaki

An old saying from the parish of Saarde in south-western Estonia speaks about Black Woodpeckers and the coming of spring:

“Vanad inimesed Saardes teavad kõnelda, et korjusepäevast hakkavat korr (suur must rähn) metsas puu oksa pihta nokaga põrri laskma. See olla esimeseks kevade tuleku kuulutuseks.”

“Old people from Saarde know that from Korjuse day (mid-winter), Black Woodpeckers start drumming their beaks against branches in the forest. This is the first call of spring.”