Birch Compass
January 2026 — Iowa 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
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus
- European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
- Northern House Wren Troglodytes aedon
- Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
In bloom
- The prairie's winter architecture stands through the drifts — tan seed heads of compass plant and coneflower, and the rattling stalks of big bluestem.
In the garden
- A planning week — order seeds early and favor the short-season varieties that finish reliably in northern Iowa's cold.
- The safest window to prune oaks is now, while they're dormant and the beetles that spread oak wilt are inactive; prune apples and pears 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 like the Loess Hills ridges.
- Orion dominates the southern sky, his belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius low in the southeast — the cold, dry air makes for crystal-clear winter viewing.
- The Winter Hexagon of bright stars — Sirius, Procyon, the Gemini twins, Capella, Aldebaran, and Rigel — sprawls across the long, dark January sky.
My field notes