Birch Compass
January 2026 — South Dakota 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
- Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda
- Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
- Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
- Northern House Wren Troglodytes aedon
- American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
In bloom
- Nothing blooms, but the rattling tan seed heads of coneflower and the blue cones of Rocky Mountain juniper feed wintering juncos and waxwings.
In the garden
- A planning week: order seed favoring short-season varieties, and leave drifted snow banked over perennial beds as the prairie garden's best insulation.
- Knock heavy snow gently off arborvitae and young evergreens to prevent breakage, but leave dry powder undisturbed over the beds.
- Start onions and leeks under grow lights — these slow crops need the head start to size up in the short prairie season.
Night sky
- The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in a short, sharp burst around January 3 — watch after midnight from a dark prairie pullout or the Badlands.
- Orion dominates the southern sky over the Badlands, his belt pointing to brilliant Sirius low in the southeast on the clearest, coldest nights.
- February's exceptionally clear, transparent skies arrive with the coldest, driest air of the year over the prairie and Black Hills.
My field notes