Travels with Charlie: A 2023 nature calendar for Georgia

For the multitudes of us who love being outdoor, Georgia provides marvelous alternatives all yr lengthy to take pleasure in nature’s wonders. Listed below are a number of nature happenings to search for in 2023:

January: Shed of their leaves, deciduous timber have a particular magnificence now. The naked limb patterns of hovering oaks, maples, tulip poplars, hickories, candy gums, and different hardwoods are like beautiful artistic endeavors – natural sculptures – when unfold in opposition to a golden winter sky. A particular magnificence at month’s finish is pink maples in bloom.

February: With Georgia’s gentle winters, some wildflowers bloom early, akin to hepatica, trailing arbutus, and yellow Jessamine. However the star of the present is the brilliant yellow trout lily. In late February, its mass blooms carpet the mild slopes alongside the Trout Lily Path subsequent to Rottenwood Creek within the Paces Mill unit of the Chattahoochee River Nationwide Recreation Space. 

March: The wildflower season revs up with the blooming of so-called spring ephemerals – bloodroot, toothwort, Dutchman britches, spring magnificence, and others. Their mass blooms make a surprising sight in late March alongside the famed Shirley Miller Wildflower Path within the Pocket of Pigeon Mountain in Walker County. In the meantime, ruby-throated hummingbirds begin arriving; bluebirds and Carolina wrens begin nesting.

April: Spring is bursting out throughout with the primary waves of warblers and different Neotropical songbirds coming back from Latin America to nest in Georgia. The paths within the Kennesaw Nationwide Battlefield Park in Cobb County supply nice alternatives to see the colourful avian migrants. Trilliums, violets, and dogwoods bloom. Butterflies flit about. Hardwoods leaf out.

Might: Chook tune fills the air because the nesting season strikes into full swing. Chances are you’ll have to go no farther than your entrance yard to see the feathered creatures busily tending their nests.

June: The panorama appears to show 50 shades of inexperienced as summer time takes maintain. In South Georgia’s famed Okefenokee Swamp and different wetlands, alligators construct nests. Terrestrial turtles are breeding. White-tailed fawns are born. 

July: Life within the wild slows with summer time’s warmth. Katydids and cicadas crank up their monotonous droning. With their nesting season wrapping up, hummingbirds return to feeders to fatten up for his or her arduous fall migration. Summer time wildflower blooms embrace iewel-weed, black-eyed Susan, widespread milkweed and others. 

August: Hummingbirds and a few songbirds already begin heading south for winter. Infants of a number of snake species begin slithering about. Orb-weaving spider webs seem. 

September: Fall songbird migration will get underway in earnest. Freeway roadsides and outdated fields are ablaze with blooms of fall’s iconic wildflowers, goldenrods, and asters.

October: The primary blushes of fall leaf coloration seem early within the month. By month’s finish, the colours are in full glory. Spectacular views of the autumn foliage will be had from the Richard Russell Scenic Freeway (Ga. 348) in North Georgia. Deer rutting season begins. Northern nesting songbirds and geese arrive for the winter.

November: Fall leaf coloration peaks through the first week or two. Hardwoods shed their leaves. Black bears, white-tailed deer, squirrels, beavers, and different creatures put together for winter. Bald eagles and nice horned owls start nesting.

December: Winter brings a quiet over the pure panorama. Amidst the largely brown terrain, evergreens – pines, cedars, hollies, Christmas ferns, mistletoe, and others – stand out. Some people collect boughs and sprigs to brighten houses for the vacations.