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!