Birch Compass
January 2026 — Minnesota Nature Journal
What to look for this month near you, with room to record what you find.
This month in nature
Birds to watch
- Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
- American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) Colaptes auratus auratus
- Northern House Wren Troglodytes aedon
In bloom
- Nothing in flower here this month. The next to open are usually Marsh Marigold and Bloodroot, around April — worth knowing where to be when they do.
In the garden
- A planning week — order seeds early, especially the short-season varieties northern Minnesota gardens depend on, before they sell out.
- Leave snow banked over perennial beds as insulation, and gently knock heavy wet snow off evergreen branches to prevent breakage.
- The safest window to prune oaks is now, while they're dormant and oak-wilt beetles are inactive; 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 May.
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 — the cold, dry air makes for crystal-clear viewing.
- On the coldest, clearest nights, watch the northern horizon for the aurora borealis, which the far north and Boundary Waters catch most often.
Birds: species recorded on the USGS Breeding Bird Survey. Monthly presence describes typical seasonal timing modeled from regional patterns, not month-by-month counts.
My field notes