Birch Compass
January 2026 — California Nature Journal
What to look for this month near you, with room to record what you find.
This month in nature
Birds to watch
- House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
- Common Raven Corvus corax
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
- Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
- California Quail Callipepla californica
In bloom
- Manzanita opens its urn-shaped pink-and-white bells across the chaparral, an early winter nectar source.
- In a wet year the earliest desert annuals begin opening on warm low-desert flats at Anza-Borrego.
- The first California poppies open in earnest on the southern and central foothill slopes.
In the garden
- Bare-root roses, fruit trees, grapes, and cane berries go in the ground now while dormant in the mild coast and valley.
- Spray peaches and nectarines with dormant oil and copper now to prevent peach leaf curl — the key California stone-fruit task.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks around January 3 in a brief, sharp burst, best after midnight from a dark desert site.
- Orion dominates the south, its belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
My field notes