What can a nature observer expect in January -- Pine Siskins, below zero mornings, the coldest days of the year, treacherous trails, frozen streams, icicles, animal tracks, evergreen ferns, and more SNOW and more Pine Siskins.

phenology:  a branch of science dealing with the relationship between climate and periodic biologic phenomena (as bird migration and plant flowering).

    Tired of winter?  The Vernal Equinox occurs on March 20, 2009.  Read the weekly Nature Observer’s Almanac for Pittsburgh and Daytona Beach.

    Don’t let the cold days and the shortage of sunlight get to you.  Look for signs of spring!  On a cold January day, courting Red-tailed Hawks fill me with the promise of weather more to my liking.  When the afternoon is clear and the sky its bluest, Red-tail pairs glide along ridges, soar in rising spirals then suddenly dive or dip.  The hawks appear to rejoice in the warm sun.  Actually, they are using the thermals created by the warm sun to lift them in their aerial displays.  Listen for their loud, wheezing “kee-eeer” as they soar overhead.  This courtship takes place during any time of the year, but becomes vigorous and intense as spring approaches.

    Seek sunning screech owls.  Eastern Screech Owls are nocturnal, cavity-dwelling residents in western Pennsylvania.  During winter, these robin-sized owls seek shelter in woodpecker nests or other protected cavities.  On bright afternoons, however, they sometimes take advantage of the warmth by sunning in the cavity entrance.  Examine Wood Duck and kestrel nest boxes as well as woodpecker holes.  Check carefully.  A screech owl face completely fills most cavity entrances and its plumage mimics the color and markings of tree bark.  It will often squint or close its tell-tale huge eyes.  Listen for agitated songbirds like chickadees, titmice, Blue Jays or Carolina Wrens.  When they discover an owl, they noisily and vigorously harass it.

    Keep an eye out for more winter finches.  It’s been a productive winter for finch watchers.  Birders have been rewarded with huge flocks of Pine Siskins, wandering bands of White-winged Crossbills and scattered Red Crossbills.  What else will show up?  Could there be Evening Grosbeaks on their way?  What about Bohemian Waxwings?

    The Pine Siskin population in Pennsylvania is the highest it’s been in the memory of most birders.  Will the siskin population suddenly crash?

   When lakes are frozen, flocks of waterfowl congregate in rivers, large lakes and pockets of open water.  The ponds at Moody Road have been a gold mine of unusual geese.  These spring-fed impoundments do not freeze readily but there are sub-zero temperatures in the forecast.  Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese and Cackling Geese were mingled with the usual Canada Geese and Mallards.  Any species of duck might appear there.

   

  

    January is the time to search the rivers for unusual gulls.  In recent years Iceland, Glaucous, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls stopped in the rivers around Pittsburgh.  When the Great Lakes freeze over, Red-necked Grebes move south.  Watch for them in the three rivers.

    One rule of birding: during winter expect the unexpected.  In January 1992, a Great Gray Owl showed up along the railroad tracks in Warren, PA. 

    Mating season is over for the White-tailed Deer.  It’s time to search for shed antlers.  If you find one the other is often nearby.  Look fast.  Rodents soon gnaw the antlers to nothing.

   Foxes begin to breed in late January.  Listen for their barking late at night.  Raccoons are not true hibernators.  When the outside temperature is below 25°F they den up and sleep soundly, with little or no reduction in body temperature.  Raccoons breed in January and February.

    Look for signs of winter insects.  With the die-back of the brush and the accumulation of snow the hardened winter egg case of the mantids become conspicuous.  Mantids, like the familiar Praying Mantis, overwinter as an egg deposited in a mass on a twig or plant stem and protected by a foam that hardens into a shiny, shellac-like case.  Look for these inch long misshapen globes in fields from one to five feet above the ground.

    During January, we can expect much of western Pennsylvania to be covered with snow.  This clean, white surface provides interesting clues to lives of the plants and animals.  Of course, look for tracks made by birds and mammals, but many other interesting events are recorded on the temporary white tablet.

    You may find scrapings from turkey, deer or songbirds, or burrows made by shrews and rodents.  Wind blown leaves and winged seeds move along the snow.  Debris below persistent stalks of wildflowers such as Ironweed and goldenrod indicate that sparrows and finches have been feeding.  Also, watch for signs that fruit-eating birds have been foraging in trees such as the sumacs.

    Under Black Birch trees, tiny black seeds are often scattered across the snow like sprinkled pepper.

    The days are getting ever so slightly longer.  On December 24 the daylight period the shortest of the year, 9 hours and 17 minutes.  Compare to:

  January 6: 7:43 to 5:09; 9 hours, 26 minutes

  January 13: 7:42 to 5:16; 9 hours, 34 minutes

  January 20: 7:38 to 5:24; 9 hours, 45 minutes

  January 27: 7:34 to 5:32; 9 hours, 51 minute

    From now until the Summer Solstice nears, the sun will rise slightly earlier and set a little later.  On March 17 this year in Pittsburgh, there will 12 hours and 1 minute of daylight.  For the first time in six months there will be more light than darkness – yet another reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

    The resident songbirds are very sensitive to these changes in the length of daylight.  Soon the males will begin to sing, especially in the morning and on clear days.

    Listen for the “birdy, birdy, birdy” of Northern Cardinals, the melodious notes and trills of the Song Sparrow, Carolina Wrens trumpeting “cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger,” and the Tufted Titmouse’s variable “peter, peter, peter.”  Listen, also, for the sad wails of the Mourning Dove, the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse and the tapping and chattering of the woodpeckers.  Although the birds will not perform with consistency and vigor, the sounds are exciting and an encouraging sign of more pleasant days to come.

    Take heart from the hardiest of songbirds, rugged species like juncos, Golden-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows that come south to Pennsylvania.  American Tree Sparrows breed in the far north but feed on winter wildflower stalks in Pennsylvania.  Listen for their delightful “tinkle bell” chatter.

    Remember and respect the power of nature.  In late January 1996 western Pennsylvania experienced a severe flood.  From the Nature Observer News, January 27, 1996.

The Flood: for the record.  On Saturday, January 20 at approximately 10:00 a.m. the rivers at the Point in Pittsburgh crested at 34.6 Feet.  Normal pool at the Point in Pittsburgh is 16 Feet, flood stage at the Point in Pittsburgh is 25 Feet.

Contributing factors: The flood was the result of high temperatures that caused the rapid thaw of a deep snow cover, followed by heavy rains over the entire upper Ohio watershed; that is the land that drains into Pittsburgh’s three rivers and all of their tributaries.

    On January 8 a foot and a half or more of snow fell on much the southern and eastern portion of western Pennsylvania.  Much more fell in the Monongahela drainage in West Virginia.  A heavy snow pack was already in place in the northern Allegheny River drainage and at higher elevations throughout the region.

    On January 18 a temperature of 68°F was recorded at the Pittsburgh International Airport.  On January 19, 1.17 inches of rain fell at the Airport.  Some hydrologists speculated that because of the dry summer, there was very little vegetation to hold the water back.  Ice jams on the Allegheny River broke loose on January 19, accelerating the rise and catching river forecasters and public safety officials by surprise.  Near simultaneous cresting of both Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers contributed to the high water.  As of January 23, 1996 officials blamed the death of 15 people in Pennsylvania on the floods.

  

    Even the tiniest splash of winter Greenery will raise your spirits. Spotted Pipsisewa is a small evergreen wildflower with distinctive lance-shaped variegated leaves.  Look for it below evergreen trees and in dry oak forests in the southern counties.

    Enjoy the beech leaves.  The American Beech, as well as many oaks, do not shed all of their leaves in the fall, but keep some until almost spring.  This is especially evident in young beech trees and saplings in the forest understory.  Easily identified in winter because of their color, look for the golden-tan, elliptical leaves, either hanging on the tree or sitting on top of the melting snow.  Pointed at the tip, strongly toothed and veined, the delicate leaves feel like aged parchment.

    Look for the next Nature Observer phenology in early February.  Great Horned Owls should be hanging out around their nest and all but the most celebrated of groundhogs will be in a deep sleep.

    Until then, keep warm and look for signs of spring.