Get Outside in January

Coffee and Syrup from the Woods?

With the trees bare, look for large pods dangling from the branches of Kentucky coffee trees. These leathery, unopened pods contain seeds that Native Americans used to roast and grind to make coffee, giving the tree its common name.

While you’re out enjoying the winter woods, look for Missouri’s sugar maple trees. You can tap these to make your own maple syrup. The best time to tap for most of Missouri is mid- to late January or early February. For more information on maple sugaring, visit short.mdc.mo.gov/4N4.

Coffee and syrup … you have the beginnings of a tasty breakfast. 

Need Some Green?

Missouri in the winter can look pretty dreary. If you need a boost of color, take a hike! With the trees lacking leaves, sunlight is permitted to reach all the way to the forest floor where some of Missouri’s nonwoody plants remain green through the winter, including several types of ferns and mosses. If you need help identifying what you’re seeing, MDC’s online Field Guide has you covered. Visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Z9d.

What’s That Sound?

Red fox mating season peaks in January and February, as does their nighttime barking. The males emit a loud, sharp, and sometimes aggressive bark with a hup-hup-hup rhythm. Females let out a more piercing, high-pitched screamlike bark. 

Great horned owl breeding occurs in late January or early February, following a few months of hooting. You can identify it by ear — listen for its three to eight deep hoots grouped in a pattern such as hoo h’HOO, HOO, HOO.

Who Will be First?

After the chill of winter wears off, who will be the first to emerge and commence with springtime activities? 

The horned lark is one of Missouri’s earliest nesting birds. Courtship songs and displays begin in January and February. The male flies up several hundred feet, giving a tinkling song at its highest ascent. Then it zooms, dartlike, to the ground, opening its wings at the last minute. Look for them in large open areas with extensive bare ground. They are especially common in plowed agricultural regions, nesting early before vegetation has a chance to grow tall. Their camouflaged upperparts make them inconspicuous, but they often occur in flocks, and their movement against the ground, songs, and their distinctively marked faces and feathery horns, can help you see them.

Boreal chorus frogs and spring peepers will be some of the first amphibians we will hear. They overwinter in the soil and do not burrow very deep. A natural antifreeze in their blood keeps them from freezing.

Call Before You Cut

5 reasons to call before you cut

Learn if harvesting is right for you and your woods

Harvest the proper trees to ensure a healthy forest

Find a trained logger for the job

Maximize timber sale income and save $$$ on taxes

Ensure your overall satisfaction with the timber harvest

Request a free informational packet about working with a professional forester to take care of your woods.

callb4ucut.com

877–564–7483

Natural Events to See This Month

Here’s what’s going on in the natural world.

• Gulls visit large lakes and rivers.
• Beavers begin breeding.
• Ozark witch-hazel begins blooming.
• Dark-sided salamanders breed.
• Deer feed on sumac berries.