Birch Compass
January 2026 — Colorado Nature Journal
What to look for this month near you, with room to record what you find.
This month in nature
Birds to watch
- Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
- Common Raven Corvus corax
- (Red-shafted Flicker) Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus cafer
- Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
In bloom
- Little bluestem still glows wine-red across the plains as the cured native grasses catch the low winter sun.
In the garden
- Deep-soak Front Range trees and evergreens on any warm, unfrozen day — winter desiccation, not cold, kills the most plants here.
- Replace mulch the wind has stripped from perennial crowns and overwintering garlic across the Front Range.
- Start onion and leek seed indoors under lights for an early jump on the short, high-altitude season ahead.
- Continue winter watering — a deep soak on a thaw day brings woody plants through the dry cold.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around January 3 in a short, sharp burst best seen after midnight from a dark San Luis Valley sky.
- Brilliant Orion stands due south in the evening with the Orion Nebula glowing in his sword.
- The brilliant Dog Star Sirius sparkles low in the southeast in Canis Major below Orion.
My field notes