Birch Compass
January 2026 — Vermont Nature Journal
What to look for this month near you, with room to record what you find.
This month in nature
Birds to watch
- American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
- Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
- Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
- Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
- European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
In bloom
A quiet month here — watch and note what you find.
In the garden
- A planning week — order seeds early, especially the short-season varieties Northeast Kingdom gardens depend on, before they sell out.
- Leave snow banked over perennial beds as insulation, and gently knock heavy wet snow off arborvitae and evergreens to prevent breakage.
- On a calm, mild day, prune apple and other fruit trees while they're fully dormant and disease pressure is at its lowest.
- Set up the grow-light shelf and start the slowest seedlings — onions, leeks, and celery — for transplants you'll set out in late May.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in a short, sharp burst around January 3; watch the northeast after midnight from a dark Vermont ridge away from town lights.
- Orion dominates the southern sky, his belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius — the cold, dry air over the snow makes for crystal-clear viewing.
- On the coldest, clearest nights, scan the northern horizon for the aurora borealis, which Vermont's latitude catches more often than most of the Lower 48.
My field notes