NOVEMBER NATURE HAPPENINGS
• Project Feeder Watch starts Saturday, November 14, and extends until April, www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw. Feeders get busier as the month progresses. Keep them full to attract migrants coming down from the north. Visit: https://feederwatch.org/
• To attract migrants, spread Bark Butter on the trunks of trees. Over 140 birds throughout North America are attracted to Bark Butter.
• Is this an irruption year? Start looking for new fall/winter visitors to your feeders such as Pine Siskin, Purple Finches and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Nashville and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
• Live in the forest? Check the tree trunks for Brown Creepers moving down scouring for insects. Usually they go for the biggest tree trunk available.
• Hummingbird feeders still filled? You never can predict who will be coming to your feeder. Watch for the Rufous Hummingbird traveling from Alaska through December.
• Going to Hawk Mountain in November? This month is peak migration for Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.
• Waterfowl migration peaks this month. Lake Frederick and Abrams Creek will be a good area to spot Tundra Swans, American Widgeons, Gadwalls, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers and Ruddy Ducks. At the end of the month, look for Green-winged Teals.
• Listen for the Winter Wren singing in the morning when the sun crests the horizon.
• Open water is important if there's an early freeze. Put out heated bird baths for a winter water source.
• Witch-Hazel, also known as “winter Bloom” is the last shrub to bloom this year. Its exploding seed pods attract many birds. Sweet William and some thistles are also still in bloom.
• Persimmons ripen - delicious when ripe, astringent when unripe.
• Peak of deer breeding season, through December. Use caution while driving.
• Woodchucks, chipmunks, bears and bats will begin their hibernation throughout the month depending on climate conditions.
• Beavers are very active in the evenings while caching a winter supply of food.
SPECIAL DATES
• November 1, Daylight Savings Time ends ~ set clocks back 1 hour.
• November 3, Election Day.
• November 10, the planet Mercury will be seen low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
• November 11, Veterans Day.
• November 11-12, Taurids meteor shower peaks, best viewing is just after midnight away from city lights. The thin crescent moon will set early for a good viewing.
• November 14, Project FeederWatch begins and runs thru April 2021.
• November 15, New Moon.
• November 16-17, Leonid meteor shower peaks, best time to watch between midnight and dawn.
• November 26, Thanksgiving. The last Thursday in the month of November was declared by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to be a “Day of Thanksgiving”.
• November 30, Full Moon - called the “Beaver Moon”, as this was the time Native America Indians and early settlers set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. This full Moon was also called the “Frost Moon”, for obvious reasons.
INTERESTING HISTORICAL DATES…What do a mouse, woodpecker, squirrel and moose have in common? They all made it to the Silver Screen or Television during the month of November.
• November 11, 1940, Woody Woodpecker, America’s favorite woodpecker, debuts on the silver screen.
• November 18, 1928, Mickey Mouse hits the silver screen as Steamboat Willie.
• November 19, 1959, Rocket (Rocky) J Squirrel and Bullwinkle Moose debuts on TV!