As we inch and claw toward warmer times, I did get in a bit of revenge – on the first day of spring, much less.

I was out-and-about in the outback when I heard my first seasonal call of a wood frog, the earliest amphibian to wrest free of winter’s unkind squeeze. This beyond-hardy species often sings in the daylight, knowing it might freeze to the bone come nighttime. Not to worry, wood frogs can survive just such instantaneous ice-overs.

Wanting to get a photo of this early outer, I homed in on its call. The problem was the long pauses between croaks. I needed to repeatedly stop in my tracks.

At one stoppage point, I plopped down next to a holly tree, awaiting another call.