Birch Compass
January 2026 — Illinois Nature Journal
What to look for this month near you, with room to record what you find.
This month in nature
Birds to watch
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
- European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus
- American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
In bloom
A quiet month here — watch and note what you find.
In the garden
- A planning week: order seeds early, and leave any snow banked over perennial beds as the best insulation an Illinois garden gets.
- It's the safest window to prune oaks while fully dormant, avoiding the warm-season beetles that spread oak wilt; prune fruit trees on a mild day.
- Set up the grow-light shelf and start the slowest seedlings — onions, leeks, and celery — for transplants you'll set out in spring.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in a short, sharp burst around January 3 — watch the northeast after midnight from a dark site away from city lights.
- Orion dominates the southern sky, his belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius low in the southeast, with the cold, dry air making for crystal-clear viewing.
- The Winter Hexagon of bright stars — Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, Aldebaran, and Rigel — sprawls across the long, dark January sky.
My field notes