January Nature Happenings

• Project FeederWatch continues, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
• Look for Pine Siskin and Purple Finches at your feeders.
• Look for our three over-wintering warblers – the Pine, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped.
• Eastern Box Turtles will spend the winter hibernating in a shallow burrow, often no deeper than a few inches.
• During warm spells, some reptiles and amphibians can become active.
• Now through late March is a difficult time for birds; providing food and an open source of water is important.
• Prolonged freezes are really tough on wrens. Suet can be a lifesaver for them.
• Coastal Louisiana hosts many wintering hummingbirds that need a reliable source of nectar.
• During late January or early February, Great Horned Owls will be sitting on their eggs.
• During the first or second week of January, the first returning Purple Martins will be seen along the coast.
• Squirrel mating season.
• Aldo Leopold's (Father of Wildlife Conservation) birthday Jan. 11
• Quadrantid Meteor Shower early in the month. See up to 60 falling meteors per hour!

February Nature Happenings

• Great Backyard Bird Count, mid-month, www.birdsource.org/gbbc
• Project FeederWatch continues, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
• February is National Bird Feeding Month
• Look for early-returning Ruby-throated Hummingbirds during the last week of February.
• Eastern Cottontail mating season.
• American Woodcocks are doing courtship flights.
• American Robin spring migration begins in late February.
• As days lengthen, Tufted Titmice and cardinals begin to sing.
• Sandhill Cranes can be seen migrating north in late February.
• Hibernating butterflies (Morning Cloak, Comma) emerge on warm days.
• Have houses ready for mature Purple Martins that will return by end of the month.
• Smith's Longspurs will be on their way back to the Arctic by the end of the month.
• Bluebird and other nest boxes need to be cleaned out this month.

March Nature Happenings.

• Project FeederWatch continues, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
• Snow Geese depart early this month.
• Blue-winged Teal return this month for the summer to raise their young.
• Listen for the subtle "Pee-O-Wee" call of the Eastern Wood Pewee upon its return.
• Wintering gulls reach their peak population on the Gulf Coast early in the month.
• Peak of spring waterfowl migration.
• Screech Owls are sitting on their eggs.
• Cardinals begin nesting.
• Hummingbirds can arrive early in the month. Be sure to have their feeders ready.
• Whooping Cranes begin to leave the Texas coast.
• Bluebirds begin nesting by the end of the month. Be sure to have their houses ready.
• Goldfinches begin to molt into their brilliant yellow plumage.

April Nature Happenings

• Project FeederWatch ends this month, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
• Baltimore Orioles arrive early this month. Be sure to have their nectar feeders ready.
• Prothonotary Warblers arrive early this month from their wintering grounds in Central and South America.
• Listen for the subtle "Pee-O-Wee" call of the Eastern Wood-Pewee upon its return.
• Whip-poor-wills arrive in the first half of the month.
• Chuck-will’s-widows start to arrive in the last week of the month
• Last of the Whooping Cranes depart Aransas NWR by the middle of the month.
• Free-tailed Bats return from Mexico.
• Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks arrive at inland breeding sites.
• South winds bring major waves of migrating birds such as southern-breeding warblers and vireos in the first half and more northerly species in
• the second half of the month.
• Painted Buntings begin to arrive late in the month.
• Lyrids meteor shower, late-April.
• Earth Day, April 22.

May Nature Happenings

• Over 250 species of wildflowers bloom this month in our fields and forests.
• Dark-eyed Juncos disappear early in month.
• Peak of warbler migration happens very early in month.
• The first half of the month is peak migration for flycatchers, thrushes and northerly vireos.
• Nighthawks and Chimney Swifts return.
• Sub-adult Purple Martins return to establish new colonies early in month.
• Peak of bird courtship. Listen for the morning chorus.
• Nesting materials are being collected.
• Orioles return and begin nesting. Be sure to have their feeders, nectar, fruit and jelly out early.
• The first fireflies of the year can be seen.
• Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Wood Duck and Mallard ducklings hatch and venture forth early this month.
• Eta Aquarids meteor shower is early-May.
• International Migratory Bird Day is mid-May.

June Nature Happenings

• June is Perennial Garden Month & National Rivers Month
• Hummingbirds are attracted to the orange flowers of Trumpet Creeper vines when they bloom.
• Look for Teasel and Field Thistle blooming in open areas.
• Bird migration is finished. Birds that are here now are summer residents that nest.
• As the month progresses, feeders can become busy with visiting parents and fledglings.
• House Wrens are nesting in the northern part of region.
• Eastern species (Cerulean Warbler; Scarlet Tanager) are breeding at their western limit in the Ouchita Mountains of eastern Oklahoma.
• Snapping Turtles emerge onto land to lay eggs.
• Drought conditions often prevail; a freshly-changed bird bath will draw in a variety of birds.
• Young raccoons emerge and venture out with their mothers.
• Bullfrogs begin calling.

July Nature Happenings

• NABA National Butterfly count.
• Prothonotary Warblers start to leave for Central and South America in late July after nesting here.
• First brood of immature hummingbirds begin to show up at nectar feeders early in the month.
• Mississippi Kites begin fledging their young.
• Except for goldfinches and late bluebirds, bird breeding and nesting season ends this month.
• Garter snakes give birth to live young.
• Mallards and Wood Ducks molt into their "eclipse" plumage and are unable to fly for several weeks.
• Fall migration starts this month with returning shorebirds.
• Blackbirds begin to flock and appear at feeders.
• Katydids and Cicadas are in full chorus by the mid-month.
• Listen for the feeding screeches of young Barred and Great Horned Owls.
• Butterfly and Dragonfly diversity peaks.
• Butterfly milkweed in bloom. Look for Monarch Butterfly adults, eggs and larva.
• Delta Aquarids Meteor shower peaks in late-July.

August Nature Happenings

• Peak month for summer wildflowers to bloom.
• Month of the spider: their numbers and webs reach their peak this month.
• Shorebird migration builds and waterfowl migration starts.
• Squirrels give birth to their second broods.
• Purple Martins go south (adults by the start of the month, juveniles by the end of the month).
• Butterflies such as Gulf Fritillary, Ocola Skipper and Queen migrate along the coastal plain and inland in the east of the region.
• Chimney Swifts can be seen in large flocks over chimneys at dusk.
• Second brood of hummingbirds begin to appear at feeders early- to mid-month.
• Perseids Meteor shower is mid-month.

September Nature Happenings

• Baltimore Orioles depart for Central and South America this month.
• Common Garter Snake can bear dozens of live young in late summer/early fall.
• Bats are busy feeding, building fat for hibernation and migration.
• Blackbird (grackles, cowbirds and redwings) flocks can number in the thousands.
• Fall migration peaks for warblers and others.
• Monarch migration starts.
• Peak of Blue-winged Teal migration.
• In south Texas, Ocelots are breeding (e.g. Laguna Atascosa NWR).
• Hummingbird numbers peak around Labor Day, then start to dwindle; huge numbers along Texas coast.
• First flickers and kinglets can appear by the end of this month - they love suet.

October Nature Happenings

• Snow Geese start returning by the end of this month.
• Dark-eyed Juncos return from their northern breeding grounds early this month.
• Indigo Buntings are gone by the end of this month.
• Keep your hummingbird feeders filled and clean until you have not seen a hummingbird for two weeks.
• This is the month to install and repair nest boxes for use next year.
• Waterfowl migration continues to build.
• American Goldfinches start to return late this month (in the south of the region).
• Free-tailed Bats migrate to Mexico.
• First Sprague's Pipits and longspurs arrive for the winter.
• Look for scarce Rufous Hummingbirds to arrive throughout the region.
• Wintering sparrows, towhees and juncos arrive. They all love millet in a ground feeder.
• Monarch Butterfly migration reaches its peak late in month, sometimes in uncountable numbers.
• Sandhill Cranes arrive in huge flocks late in the month with many staging in the western half of the region.
• Orionids meteor shower is late-October.

November Nature Happenings

• Project Feeder Watch starts and extends until April, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw
• Bald Eagles begin nesting this month with young ready to fly by late February.
• Common Loons arrive from the north.
• Asters continue to bloom, mostly during the first two weeks of November.
• Feeders get busier as the month progresses.
• American Goldfinches arrive in large numbers.
• Peak number of Whooping Cranes pass through the west of the region during middle of month.
• Number and variety of wintering hummingbirds build on the Louisiana Coast.
• Resident birds that may have left their home territory return for the winter.
• Waterfowl migration peaks this month.
• Franklin's Gulls pass through in large numbers on their way to wintering grounds off the coast of Chile.
• Bald Eagles arrive from the north.
• Leonid meteor shower is mid-month.