The hours of daylight are spent securely hidden, usually in shallow burrows.
It was actually the 3rd of January rather than New Year’s day of 2017 but as they say, that’s close enough for government work—or for mine in fact. Cloudy all morning, a gentle rain began at noon and continued for several hours. The ground and leaf cover were still wet as darkness fell and the moisture containing clouds dissipated. As I often do, I stepped out for a few moment to watch the low-flying bats and to listen for the whistling ducks that fly over every night at about this time.

A little light from the house windows illuminated the driveway where I stood. And as I stood I noticed some small anurans hopping about in the leaf litter. Usually this is where I find southern toads, but for a pleasant change, on the night of the 03 Jan it was eastern spadefoots, Scaphiopus holbrookii, that were active. Now if we can just get enough rain to flood the low-lying section of the yard perhaps they will breed this year. The eerie burping-moans of the lovelorn males is a sure sign of success. C’mon rain!