Birch Compass
January 2026 — Rhode Island 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 Sparrow Passer domesticus
- Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
- Northern House Wren Troglodytes aedon
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
- American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
- Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
In bloom
- The red stems of red-osier dogwood and the scarlet fruit of winterberry holly are the brightest color in the frozen marshes.
In the garden
- A planning week — order seeds and sketch next season's beds while the ground lies frozen statewide.
- Start the slowest seeds — onions, leeks, and celery — indoors under lights as the days slowly lengthen.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in a short, sharp burst around January 3; watch after midnight from the dark South County beaches over the open Atlantic.
- Orion dominates the southern sky, his belt pointing down to brilliant Sirius low over the ocean in the cold, crystal-clear winter air.
- The Winter Hexagon of bright stars sprawls overhead, with the Orion Nebula glowing as a smudge in the hunter's sword.
My field notes