Now we have December, the darkest month, the time of the winter solstice (Dec. 22) and the shortest day of the year. Hardwood trees are bare of leaves now, and songbirds are mostly silent.
Still, December is the most joyful of months, the time of Christmas and Hanukkah. And even though darkness comes earliest in December, there is much astir in the natural world. Here is a smattering of what December offers naturewise in Georgia:
- The annual Christmas Bird Counts begin midmonth and run through the first week of January. More than 25 counts are scheduled across the state. For a complete list, visit www.atlantaaudubon.org.
- The "winter birds" -- those that migrate from northern climes to spend the winter in Georgia -- can be seen regularly in woods, fields and yards. They include cedar waxwings, juncoes, kinglets, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, yellow-rumped warblers and several species of sparrows. By late April, they all will have returned to summer nesting grounds up north.
- If the northern winter is especially harsh, we may have an influx of some uncommon visitors -- evening grosbeaks, purple finches and red-breasted nuthatches.
- Some of our year-round resident songbirds, such as bluebirds, cardinals and robins, form exclusive flocks according to their species. Some robin flocks may contain more than 100 individuals. Although the feathered creatures could not tolerate each other during the nesting season, they congregate in winter for safety and food foraging. Georgia's resident robin flocks also may be joined by those migrating from up north for the winter.
- Smaller songbirds join together in mixed flocks of four to five species -- chickadees, kinglets, nuthatches and titmice. They flock for the same reasons that the bigger birds do: Several sets of eyes are better than one in detecting predators and in discovering food.
- Songbirds staying in Georgia for the winter switch mostly to diets of seeds and berries. An exception is the Carolina wren, which continues to feed primarily on insects.
- Ospreys begin breeding. Great horned owls and barred owls begin courting; listen for their hooting. Bald eagles begin nesting; baby eagles hatch as early as Christmas Day.
- December and January are the best times for watching ducks and other waterfowl on Georgia's lakes, rivers and wetlands. On the coast, loons and large rafts of scaups are commonly seen from the beaches of Wassaw and Blackbeard islands. In the Okefenokee Swamp, wading birds are prominent as they forage amid the prairies. Wood ducks and teal can be seen throughout the swamp.
In the sky: The moon, now in first quarter, rises out of the east around lunchtime and sets in the west around midnight, said David Dundee, an astronomer with the Tellus Science Museum. The moon will be full next weekend. Venus is low in the west just after dark. Mars rises out of the east just after midnight. Jupiter is in the east at dusk and will appear near the moon on Tuesday night. Saturn rises out of the east about four hours before sunrise.
