January Nature Almanac
What’s happening in the natural world of Boulder County in January 2012
By the authors of Wild Boulder County: Ruth Carol Cushman and Stephen Jones
The Lakota call this month Hunger Moon; the Arapaho know it as When the Snow Blows like Spirits in the Sun; and the Cheyenne call it Strong Cold Moon.
Rare winter birds seem to be increasing in recent years, possibly because of climate change and possibly due to an increase in feed lots and grain fields. The annual Christmas bird counts have recorded an increase in cormorants, collared doves, and other species not commonly reported 20 years ago. This year a golden-crowned sparrow (above, photograph by Scott Severs) was seen for the second year in a row under the hedgerow near the parking lot for the North Teller Farm Trail.
A snowy owl irruption appears to happening across the northern United States. This irruption is a cyclical event that happens when lemming populations in Canada crash, causing the ghostly white owls to head south looking for food. Although we haven’t spotted them in Boulder County yet, the snowies have been seen at Jumbo and Aurora Reservoirs as well as in Kansas and Wyoming.
Gray-crowned rosy finch
Rosy finches flock to bird feeders in the high country. Popular viewing spots are the Millsite Inn, on the Peak-to-Peak Highway north of Ward, and the Fawn Brook Inn in Allenspark. Northern pygmy-owls descend to lower foothills canyons to hunt songbirds and insects. If you stand in the woods and whistle like a pygmy-owl, flocks of nuthatches and chickadees may flutter in and chatter angrily overhead.
Chinook winds commonly howl over 100 mph. Boulder winds have exceeded 130 mph during four separate January storms since 1967. These hurricane-force winds occur when a strong jet stream passes over Colorado and low pressure to the east sucks drying Pacific air masses down the mountainsides
Buds of willows and Rocky Mountain maples begin to swell. Early Easter daisies may bloom on shale slopes and magenta filaree or crane’s bills (a non-native geranium) on disturbed soil.
Some grasshoppers, revved up with “antifreeze” (elevated levels of glycerol) remain active, providing food for coyotes, foxes, and owls.
Black bear cubs are born to mothers who are sleeping in shallow dens in the foothills and mountains. The cubs will subsist on their mothers’ milk until the family emerges in early spring.
Beavers mate while tucked away in their cozy lodges. Parents, yearlings, and young of the year all occupy the same dwelling. It’s possible to hear these sociable rodents chattering away inside or see a steam-like mist, generated by the beavers’ body heat, rising from the lodge. A Canadian study found that the average minimum winter temperature inside beaver lodges was 34°F higher than the average minimum outside temperature. A clear membrane that seals the ears and nostrils allows beavers to swim from the lodge and stay underwater for up to 15 minutes.
Go outdoors and enjoy! More information about these and other December natural events.
