A guide to a wild year in Georgia, where nature springs anew

Happy New Year. As we embark on 2026, here’s a brief guide to the natural year in Georgia:

January. Even in the dead of winter, breeding season starts for gray foxes, red foxes, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons and squirrels. White-tailed deer shed antlers. Chorus frogs, spring peepers and other winter-breeding frogs start calling. Right whales give birth in Georgia’s coastal waters. Bald eagles tend chicks in nests; great horned owls are incubating eggs.

February. Male striped skunks roam far and wide to find mates. Black bear cubs are born in dens. Gray squirrels give birth. Purple martins return. Bluebirds check out nest boxes. Northern cardinals begin singing spring songs. Woodpeckers begin mating and announcing territories by drumming on houses, telephone poles and other objects. Red maples, trout lilies, hepatica, trailing arbutus, yellow jasmine bloom.

March. Litters of raccoons, bobcats, foxes and other mammals are born. Bluebirds, Carolina wrens, purple martins, red-tailed hawks, brown-headed nuthatches nest. Ruby-throated hummingbirds return. Whip-poor-wills and chuck-will’s-widows begin calling. Spring ephemerals — blood root, spring beauty, toothwort, Dutchman’s breeches and others — bloom. Spring begins on March 20.

April. Spring migration goes into high gear with return of warblers, vireos, tanagers, buntings and other Neotropical songbirds from Latin America. Migratory songbirds that spent winter in Georgia — kinglets, cedar waxwings, sparrows and others — head back to northern nesting grounds. Trilliums, violets, dogwoods, wild azaleas and a riot of other spring wildflowers bloom. Hardwoods leaf out. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators buzz and flit about. Black bear mothers with cubs emerge from dens.

May. Spring migration winds down. Mornings are filled with vibrant birdsong; nesting moves into full swing. Bird parents grab countless numbers of caterpillars to feed babies. Nighthawks arrive. Loggerhead sea turtles lay eggs on barrier beaches. Magnolias, flame azaleas and other spring wildflowers in peak bloom. White-tailed fawns are born. Alligators begin mating. Freshwater turtles — Eastern box turtles, painted turtles, snapping turtles, yellow-bellied sliders — start moving about to breed and lay eggs. Most snake species are breeding.

June. Landscape is a lush green. Alligators build nests. Bullfrogs, tree frogs and other frogs are calling. Peak bloom for rhododendron and mountain laurel in mountains. Fireflies are blinking. Summer begins on June 21 — longest day of year.

July. Activity in wild slows with summer heat. Peak of black bear mating season. Ruby throated hummingbird nesting wraps up and the birds return to feeders to gain fuel for migration. With nesting seasons over, songbirds begin to molt (replace their feathers). Black-eyed Susan, jewelweed, meadow-beauty and Joe-Pye weed bloom.

August. Ruby-throated hummingbirds and some songbirds begin heading south for winter. Eggs hatch for most lizard and snake species. Some snakes, such as rattlesnakes, give live birth. Most white-tailed bucks have new antlers. Eastern gray squirrels bear second litter of year. Loggerhead sea turtle babies hatch on coastal beaches. Goldenrod, asters, ironweed, Joe-pye weed, cardinal flower, purple false foxglove and other late summer wildflowers bloom.

September. Fall migration revs up as warblers and other migratory songbirds head south for winter. Hawk migration peaks. Peak time for copperhead snakes. Wild grapes, beauty berries and other wild fruits ripen. Autumn begins on Sept. 22.

October. Fall leaf color appears. White tailed deer begin breeding. Black bears move about, fattening up for winter. Fall migration is nearly over. Northern nesting songbirds — yellow-bellied sapsuckers, sparrows, kinglets and others — and several duck species arrive in Georgia for winter.

November. Fall leaf color peaks. Hardwoods shed leaves; evergreens stand out in brown landscape. Breeding season peaks for white-tailed deer. Bald eagles lay eggs. Right whales return to coastal waters.