The purpose of this feature is to give scout leaders, educators and naturalists an idea of some of the natural events coming up each month.  We will try to cover a variety of natural events ranging from sky events to calling periods of amphibians, bird and mammal watching tips,  prominent wildflowers and anything else that comes to mind.  We will also note prominent constellations appearing over the eastern horizon at mid-evening each month for our area for those who would like to learn the constellations.  If you have suggestions for other types of natural information you would like to see added to this calendar, let us know!

Note: You can click on the hyperlinks to learn more about some of the featured items.  To return to the Calendar, hit the "back" button on your browser, NOT the "back" button on the web page.  All charts are available in a "printer friendly" mode, with black stars on a white background.  Left clicking on each chart will take you to a printable black and white image.  Please note that images on these pages are meant to be displayed at 100%.  If your browser zooms into a higher magnification than that, the images may lose quality.

Though we link book references to nationwide sources, we encourage you to support your local book store whenever possible.

Notes and Images From December 2018

The rains came without much letup in December. On many days clouds covered the top of the Lookout Mountain.  Cloudland, where I am, lived up to its name.  After such a brilliant fall, it was hard not to miss the sunshine. The clouds and heavy fog gave the landscape an everchanging, dreamlike quality. On December 9th I took a long walk in the misting rain along the road in front of my house. The road winds through a habitat of forests, agricultural lands and horse farms. Below are some images from that walk.  Welcome to Cloudland.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks in the evening hours of January 3rd. The radiant is in the constellation of Bootes.

The Earth reaches perihelion, its least distance to the Sun for the year, on January 3rd.  This seeming paradox arises because the tilt of the Earth has much more effect on our temperatures than the relatively small variations in its distance from the Sun.

Morning Sky:

Mercury is visible for the first few days of this month.  Look for it about 30 minutes before sunrise just above the southeast horizon.

Jupiter rises higher into the morning sky each day this month. Look for it below and to the left of bright Venus in the southeastern sky 30 to 45 minutes before sunrise at the beginning of the month.  It will appear to climb by Venus in the morning sky around January 26th.

Saturn will move into the morning sky this month and will be visible low in the southeast by the third week of the month.

Ursa Major , the Great Bear, has now cleared the horizon in the northeast.  The bright stars of Leo, the Lion, are visible now.  Hydra, the Water Serpent, rears its head menacingly. Hydra's brightest star Alphard is known as "The Solitary One" because of its somewhat isolated location from other bright stars.  Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, also makes its appearance just above the northeast horizon.  Among the fainter constellations visible in the east are Leo Minor, the Small Lion, Cancer, the Crab, and Sextans, the Sextant. Look below Pollux and see if you can spot the faint glow of M44, the "Beehive Cluster."  This cluster is located in Cancer, the Crab. 

To the south, the brilliant stars of Orion and Canis Major are dazzling.  This is a great time to see the Orion Nebula, Messier 42, in a small telescope or binoculars.  If you are in clear dark moonless skies and have a hydrogen beta nebula filter, it's a good time to search for the elusive Horsehead Nebula, located near the lowest star in Orion's belt.

This is also the time to look for Tiger Salamander and Streamside Salamander egg masses.  Tiger Salamanders like to deposit their egg masses on the vegetation in shallow water in small ponds and wetlands.  Streamside Salamanders deposit their egg masses on the bottoms of rocks in streams.  If you are looking for salamanders, always remember to carefully replace any stones you pick up exactly where you found them.

Recommended:  The Frogs and Toads of North America, Lang Elliott, Houghton Mifflin Co.