As you probably know, the groundhog saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter are predicted. Up north that means more snow and ice before the spring thaw, but down here it just means more crazy weather. Winter here is always a hodgepodge of cold and warm days that even nature can’t always seem to figure out. One day it will be warm outside with highs in the lower eighties and lows in the mid sixties or low seventies. Then the next day the high will only be in the fifties (or sometimes upper forties) and frost is forecast for overnight. I can’t count the number of times that I have been fooled into thinking the cold is over by discovering new growth on the trees and buds on the azaleas only to have all of that destroyed by frost a few days later. Some years this actually happens more than once!

But if you think this type of weather is hard on people, it’s even harder on reptiles and amphibians who depend on the outdoor temperatures to regulate their body temperatures and metabolisms. During the coldest part of the winter they go into a torpid state similar to hibernation, but as the weather warms, they begin coming out of their hiding places to look for food and warmth. Usually the first ones to come out are the anoles. I’m not sure why that is, but that’s the pattern I’ve seen year after year. So I always keep an eye out for the first anole each year. Last year it was a pretty little female green anole (Anolis carolinensis) who was really enjoying a sunbath on one of the boxwoods outside my front door. This year it was a Cuban brown anole (Anolis sagrei) that was warming itself in a spot of sun under the hedges at our office.

I always look forward to seeing the first anole of the year for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it’s a sign that warmer days are on the way. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t have any more cold weather, but it usually means that more and more warm days are on the horizon. The second reason is that it means more photo ops are on the way. So far, 2022 hasn’t presented me with much to take photos of since most of the wildlife has been dormant and all the plants and flowers are pretty much dead or at least dormant, too. For some reason, so far this year there have only been a few pretty sunrises or sunsets, and it seems like I haven’t been in the right place at the right time to capture them. Even our frosty mornings didn’t present me with anything terribly interesting. I did enjoy spending some time with the little anole, though, and that same afternoon I also ran into a flock of juvenile whites ibises, so you see, the photo ops are already picking up!