You could probably find some small soil invertebrates overwintering under rocks/logs/in soil samples. Might need a microscope or macro photography setup to have much luck with identifying them
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In the Salish Sea we are more prone to getting stranger invertebrate visitors from the deep during the winter so I push myself to still brave the cold a few nights a week. I tend to spend more time looking at really small things in the water in the winter because with the water emptier it is easier to notice them. I also have recently ended up photographing a lot more peracarids because they are the most abundant thing still hanging out. My focus is usually on the soft bodied inverts, but it’s fun to be pushed by scarcity into spending more time with the animals I usually spend less time on.
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My favorite winter sport is chasing arthropods on snow:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/arthropods-on-snow
I generally have good luck finding arthropods on snow when the temperature is -10C to +3C, especially on fresh snow in the woods. When it’s colder, I go looking for tracks in snow. Or examine tree buds and work on my winter botany skills. Winter days are more fun when there’s things to see outdoors!
To keep my hands comfortable in the cold, I carry a pair of rechargeable hand warmers in my coat pockets. I wear light leather gloves and wrap my hands tight around the hand warmers in my pockets. My hands stay toasty warm, yet the leather gloves give protection against biting cold winds and still let me work my camera. If the temperature is too cold for my camera battery, I carry a spare in my pocket and switch them out as they get cold. A face mask (like an N95, or even a cloth mask) keeps my face comfortably warm and the air easy to breathe. Have fun, and get outdoors!
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Doesn’t turning over logs or rocks in the winter (in cold climates) disturb the creatures that are hibernating there? Can frogs and salamanders reliably survive such disturbance?
This winter I haven’t been doing much outdoors, but instead have been trying to hone my plant identification skills in my two weakest areas, ferns and mosses. I am reading books and watching webinars, trying to absorb as much information as I can during the slow time of year, so that I will be ready for them when the weather warms up.
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“Marcescent” was an interesting word I hadn’t ran into before. I don’t think our language (Finnish) has a word for that. Ofc, some dialect might have and there’s plenty of those.
But yes, I do those as well. 
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Yeah I suppose if your area is consistently below freezing with snow on the ground it would be much harder to do, I also was experiencing logs frozen to the ground yesterday. Another thing that might work is putting out birdseed and a bowl of water on a deck railing or somewhere birds will see it. I’m sure birds are still active so you can get some great pictures that way, especially if you make a makeshift bird blind or hide under a blanket nearby or something similar so you can get close-ups (I do that often, you can take a look at my profile for some from this morning!).
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In my area of NY, we are also getting hit with the huge snowstorm as well. Many places are closed and the temperatures have been below freezing for weeks now.
So obviously I’ve just been inside IDing. I’ve been doing cheetah, lion, serval, caracal, hyena, and palm squirrel IDs. I’ve also been improving my geography knowledge.
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We’re going to be up to a foot in the next 24 hours or so. Not to mention the frigid temps
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Yeah, apparently this storm beat the Blizzard of 1978 (12.2 inches) in Dayton, and it’s still snowing!
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That’s a new word for me as well - an English-speaking botanist!
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Wow!!
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Any Colombian can figure out what it means. “¡Oh gloria inmarcesible!”
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There are often excellent prices on budget air carriers during the winter, especially if you travel very light. Take a flight to warmer climes and camp for a few days. It’s got to be better than enduring the bitter cold of the northern latitudes.
If you can get to the Everglades there is now almost an endless supply of exotic species to find.
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Somehow I read Colombian as “Collembolian”. I guess springtails have taken a hold of me…
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I improve my accessories and plan the next year’s expeditions. Still, waiting is hard. Last winter I realized that although wolf spiders are inactive most of the winter in central Texas, they do get active when temperatures are near 80 during the day and in the 60s at night. Granted there have only been 3 short periods like that since the beginning of December but I made good use of them. I have to be continually prepared to go when conditions are right.
Mostly birds, and a few mammals. Almost anywhere that is anywhere near halfway between the equator and the poles has a lot of bird species that spend the winter. I go out birding almost every day and get quality photos almost every time, of a diverse palette of species.
In winter I tend to focus on the species that are ONLY available during the winter in this area. That means birds that spend the winter here, but migrate away as soon as February starts to turn into March. Sea ducks like Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks and Harlequin Ducks. Passerines like Nuthatches and Snow Buntings and White-throated Sparrows. Shorebirds like Sanderlings and Purple Sandpipers. Raptors like Eagles and Short-eared Owls. Large waterfowl like Swans and Snow Geese. Inland ducks like Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and Northern Pintail.
There are so many species here in the winter that are not here at any other time, so winter is actually a really productive time to iNat. I suggest getting on eBird and checking your county there for recent locations and checklists, to see what is being seen currently right there where you live.
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Dormant deciduous branches, and admiring their beauty
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/winter-twigs-f420a656-02e3-4888-a842-303d6c43e13a
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Beautiful bird photos! I really love them.
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Winter in Southern California is when our plants sprout, and we even get our first wildflowers if we’ve had decent rain. So my winter consists of
- early wildflowers and initial plant growth
- Tidepool organisms
- Waterfowl and wintering birds
- Mushrooms and molds, depending on how wet our winter is
Our leanest season for iNat is probably late fall, when everything is dried out and rains haven’t yet begun.
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Best time of year to spot mistletoes and then practice buds to identify their hosts. Also a great time to find things that are flowering anyway - whether that’s because they’re naturally winter flowering, because they’re summer plants hanging on, or spring plants woken up early, it doesn’t matter, each one is still a little bit of cheer to tide you over until spring.
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