It’s the middle of winter, so let’s take a look at the January Observations at the Cove…
JANUARY | FEBRUARY | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE| JULY | AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER | NOVEMBER | DECEMBER
January Flora…
Leaves of maples, gums, grapes, and more turning color, Golden Raintree finishing its yellow blooms and showing the reddish colored seed pods. Mexican Mint Marigold in bloom, Heavy fog in the mornings, and mosquitos have finally tapered off. The Hickory trees are bright yellow by Christmas. Aloe vera in full bloom
Key lime produced lots of fruit this year (2016)
January Fauna…
January mornings begin early. At dawn, the resident Sand Hill Cranes call each day throughout the pond. Owls are predominant in the early morning and later evening. Squirrels and moles have proliferated this year, in part due to Gillis becoming an indoor cat. Deer are still seen often, however, due to our motion sprinklers, they are no longer a problem in our garden and yard. Had a turtle lay eggs in the garden and we will watch hatch in February. Coyotes have been heard out in the prairie at night.
January Celestial Observations…
The Full Moon in January is the Wolf Moon named after howling wolves, which may stem from the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar. Orion can be observed towards the south around midnight and acts as a useful guide in locating the other Winter Constellations of Taurus, Gemini, Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Auriga. The Quadrantids, also sometimes known as the “Bootids” after the modern constellation, Boötes, is a meteor shower associated with the asteroid 2003 EH1, which orbits the Sun once every 5.5 years. Although the Quadrantids are active between the last days of December and the second week of January, the peak is usually on the night of January 3rd/4th, and only lasts for a few hours before dawn. Nevertheless, it still produces an impressive 60 to 200 Quadrantid meteors per hour under ideal conditions.
