What to look for in nature in Vermont this January

Where can you see bald eagles in Vermont in January?

• The Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey

  A two-week window in early January; the 2025 count ran January 3 to 17 · Standard routes and known hotspots statewide, coordinated by Audubon Vermont

  Since 1979, volunteers in 43 states have run fixed, non-overlapping routes in early January to tally wintering eagles, according to the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, and Audubon Vermont coordinates the Vermont count. In 2025, 55 volunteers covered 33 routes and found 99 eagles, fewer than the 127 of 2024; Audubon thought the cold and the frozen lakes had kept birds away from their usual gathering places. The 2027 window had not been announced in early October.

• Below Wilder Dam

  All winter, best on cold mornings when the river above is frozen · The Connecticut River at Wilder, in the town of Hartford

  Moving water below a dam stays open in the coldest weather, long after the river above has frozen. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies names this reach as one of the state’s well-known spots for wintering eagles. Check the tall trees on both banks for a white head, and the ice shelves beside the current, where eagles stand to eat.

• Along the Champlain ice edge

  Through January and into March, wherever the lake is still open · Chimney Point and the Champlain Bridge in Addison; Fort Cassin Point near Ferrisburgh; the Burlington waterfront

  As the bays freeze, the line where ice meets open lake becomes the hunting ground. The Center for Ecostudies points to that edge near the Chimney Point Bridge and at Fort Cassin Point near Ferrisburgh. Young eagles, mottled brown without the white head, count too, so give every big dark bird on the ice a second look.

What is screaming and hooting in the Vermont woods on January nights?

• Great horned owls, already nesting

  Courtship hooting in early January; incubation can begin this month · Woodlots beside open farmland, especially in the Champlain Valley

  The Vermont Center for Ecostudies ranks this owl with the Northeast’s earliest nesters: females may be brooding eggs as early as January. Pairs move into an old hawk or crow nest, a squirrel’s leaf nest, a hollow trunk or a ledge instead of building, and lay one to four eggs. The deep, stuttering hoots carry more than a mile; when a pair calls back and forth, the female’s is the higher voice. The species has declined here: the second Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas found it in 38 survey blocks, down from 57 in the first.

• Red foxes in mating season

  January into early March, mostly at night · Field edges, hedgerows, orchards and back roads statewide

  A high, ragged scream in the dark is usually a red fox. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies says foxes scream and bark to find mates from January into early March, calls often pinned on fishers, which are generally quiet. Northern Woodlands counts more than 20 distinct fox calls and notes that a foraging fox may leave as many as 70 urine marks in an hour; after fresh snow you can smell those skunky scent posts along its route. In a storm a fox simply curls up in the open, tail over its nose, and lets the snow cover it.

• Bear cubs born in the den

  Late January into early February · Brush piles, rock ledges, hollow trees and fallen logs, mostly in the mountains and the Kingdom

  Nobody hears this one. Vermont Fish & Wildlife says black bear cubs arrive in late January or in the first days of February, while the mother is still denned. Each newborn weighs 8 to 10 ounces, about as much as a chipmunk, and a litter can run from one to five, usually two.

Where do Vermont’s deer go when the snow gets deep?

• Deer wintering areas

  Potentially from December 1 to April 15, whenever the snow is deep · Dense hemlock and cedar stands in the south; spruce and fir in the north; steep south-facing slopes in southern Vermont

  Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s landowner guide calls wintering areas the single most important habitat a deer uses here, though they cover less than 10 percent of the state’s forest. Under a closed canopy of mature softwoods the snow lies shallower, the wind is weaker and the air slightly milder. In order of value the department lists eastern hemlock, northern white cedar, red and white spruce, balsam fir and white pine. Deer return to the same yards year after year, sometimes walking many miles to get there.

• How a deer gets through it

  Midwinter · Inside and at the edges of the yard

  A winter deer runs mostly on stored fat. The department explains that deer move only as much as they must and cut back on eating, close to semi-hibernation. What they do eat is browse: buds and twigs of young trees and shrubs, plus cedar and hemlock needles. Hobblebush, striped maple, dogwood, witch-hazel and young yellow birch in small openings near the softwoods are the yard’s pantry.

• Signs to look for

  After a few weeks with more than 18 inches of snow · Hemlock and spruce stands near brooks and on sheltered slopes

  After snow has been deep for a few weeks, the department says, packed trails, heaps of pellets and oval beds melted into the snow are easy to see. Deer cannot afford to run in deep snow, so if you find a yard, back away and keep dogs leashed or at home.

What lives in and under the snow in a Vermont January?

• Mice, voles and shrews in the subnivean zone

  Whenever there are 6 inches or more of snow on the ground · Fields, meadows and forest floors statewide

  The layer of air and tunnels at the base of the snowpack has a name, the subnivean zone. Northern Woodlands explains that about six inches of snow gives small mammals a sturdy roof, and a couple more inches holds the space underneath within a degree or two of freezing whatever the night is doing above. Look on the surface for small holes, their air shafts; an ermine in its white coat may slip down one to hunt. Owls can hear a vole under the snow from 30 yards away and smash through feet first, and foxes and coyotes pounce nose down after the same prey.

• Ruffed grouse in snow roosts

  Nights when the snow is soft and a foot or more deep · Young hardwoods and aspen stands, often next to conifers

  A grouse that finds deep powder flies straight into it, burrows a short way and sleeps insulated. Northern Woodlands reports that the air in a snow roost may reach 32 °F and seldom falls below 20 °F in bitter cold, and that some tunnels stretch 10 feet. In the morning the bird explodes out, leaving a burrow, a small pile of droppings and the brush marks of its wingtips.

• Porcupines in the hemlocks

  All winter · Hemlock stands near rocky ledges

  Porcupines winter close to a den, usually a rock crevice, and Northern Woodlands notes that one may use the same den for its whole 10 to 12 year life, marked by a big heap of droppings at the door. Their winter range shrinks by 80 to 90 percent, much of it the commute between den and a favorite hemlock, which becomes a deep plowed trough. Under the feeding tree lie hemlock sprigs cut cleanly at a 45 degree angle, the porcupine’s nip twigs.

• Otters on the move

  Mostly in midwinter, when ponds have frozen over · Streams and rivers that stay open, beaver ponds and their outlets

  Vermont Fish & Wildlife says otters may leave frozen ponds and lakes for the open water of rivers and streams in winter. On land an otter bounds and then slides on its belly, so a trail of short hops broken by long smooth grooves, especially heading downhill to water, is almost surely an otter’s.

How do you identify Vermont’s hardwood trees in winter?

• Sugar maple

  All winter · Rich upland slopes and sugarbushes statewide

  Opposite branching, brown twigs and slim, sharp-pointed buds wrapped in several overlapping scales, per the Native Plant Trust’s Go Botany guide. Old trees have gray bark broken into long ridges and plates. In six or eight weeks the sap will run.

• Red maple

  All winter; buds swell in March · Swamps, wet edges, roadsides and dry ridges alike

  Also opposite, but with red to gray twigs and plumper, blunter buds that are plainly red, often clustered at the tips. Go Botany notes those buds swell early in spring, and the red flowers open before the leaves. Young bark is smooth and pale gray.

• American beech

  All winter · Northern hardwood forests on the lower slopes

  Smooth, light gray bark and long, cigar-shaped buds up to three-quarters of an inch make beech the easiest hardwood in the January woods, and young beeches often keep their papery leaves all winter. Bark that is pitted and cankered shows beech bark disease, which Go Botany describes as a fungus that blisters the bark after an introduced scale insect has attacked it.

• Yellow birch and paper birch

  All winter · Cool, moist forests and ravines; paper birch on old burns, clearings and higher slopes

  Paper birch is the chalky tree with bark peeling in sheets. Yellow birch has shiny bronze to silvery bark curling off in thin ribbons, and Go Botany’s test is to scratch a young twig: yellow birch smells of wintergreen. Both birches alternate their buds.

Which winter birds can you find in Vermont in January?

• Common goldeneyes on the lake

  All winter, wherever the lake is open; displays build toward spring · Protected bays and the ice edge on Lake Champlain; the Burlington waterfront

  The Lake Champlain Committee calls the common goldeneye the lake’s most common winter duck. Drakes are bright white with a glossy dark head and a round white spot by the bill. On calm days, watch for a drake flinging his head back onto his spine, a courtship move that grows more frequent toward spring. Sort through the flocks: the committee says a rare Barrow’s goldeneye shows up each winter, and rafts of greater and lesser scaup gather near the Champlain Bridge, sometimes with a European tufted duck mixed in.

• Crossbills and siskins in the softwoods

  All winter · White pine, spruce, hemlock and cedar stands; less often at feeders

  The Finch Research Network’s 2026–27 forecast reports very good cone crops on Northeast white pines, northern white cedars and red spruces. It expects good numbers of red crossbills, a sizable pine siskin flight and scattered white-winged crossbills, with many birds staying in the forest instead of visiting feeders. Scan the tops of heavily coned spruces and pines, and listen for small flocks calling as they pass over. Evening grosbeaks may reach the region in small groups, the forecast says, while pine grosbeaks and Bohemian waxwings will probably remain farther north.

• Feeder regulars, counted

  All winter; FeederWatch runs to the end of April · Backyards statewide

  Chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, titmice and juncos carry the January feeder. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies notes that junco flocks keep a pecking order with adult males on top. Count yours for Project FeederWatch or post an eBird checklist.

Does Lake Champlain freeze in January, and when is ice safe to walk on?

• What the anglers are after

  Once the bays have safe ice, usually from January · South Bay and Keeler Bay, Knight Point, the mouth of the Winooski, and many inland ponds

  The Lake Champlain Committee lists northern pike in South Bay and Keeler Bay, yellow perch off Knight Point and a mix of species at the mouth of the Winooski River. Shanties must be off the ice by the last Sunday in March, or sooner if it weakens.

• Free Fishing Day, January 30

  Saturday, January 30, 2027 · Any Vermont water open to ice fishing

  Vermont’s fishing rules set aside the last Saturday in January and the second Saturday in June as Free Fishing Days, when residents and nonresidents may fish without a license under the usual methods and limits. Vermont Fish & Wildlife has paired the winter date with a free Ice Fishing Festival at Elmore State Park, most recently on January 31, 2026, with loaner gear, lessons and a fish fry. Look for 2027 festival details on the department’s Free Ice Fishing Day page.

How cold and snowy is January in Vermont, and how might El Niño change it?

How much daylight does Vermont gain in January?

What can you see in Vermont’s night sky in January 2027?

• The Quadrantids

  Night of Sunday, January 3, into Monday, January 4; active December 28 to January 12 · A dark spot with an open view to the northeast

  The Quadrantid maximum is brief, and in 2027 it falls in North American darkness: near 10:30 p.m. on Sunday by the American Meteor Society’s reckoning, or close to 12:47 a.m. Monday by EarthSky’s. The radiant, between the Big Dipper’s handle and Boötes, climbs all night, so the predawn hours of Monday are best, and the waning crescent, less than a fifth lit, rises only near dawn. A rural Vermont sky might give a few dozen meteors in an hour; a lit town, far fewer.

• Perihelion, and Venus at its farthest from the sun

  Perihelion at 9:33 p.m. Saturday, January 2; Venus at greatest elongation Sunday, January 3 · Venus in the southeast before dawn

  Saturday evening brings perihelion, Earth’s nearest point to the sun all year, at about 91.4 million miles: proof that Vermont’s cold comes from the low sun and short days, not distance. On Sunday Venus reaches greatest western elongation, 47 degrees from the sun; it blazes low in the southeast before dawn all month.

• The Wolf Moon, a supermoon

  Full at 7:17 a.m. Friday, January 22; best on the evening of Thursday, January 21 · Rising in the northeast around sunset

  Perigee, the moon’s nearest approach, comes late on the afternoon of January 21, roughly 14 hours ahead of full phase, so this is 2027’s nearest full moon, roughly 222,000 miles off. Because it turns full around sunrise on Friday, Thursday evening’s moonrise is the one to catch, with the moon over the snow all night. On Saturday evening, the 23rd, Jupiter sits just beside it.

• Planets in the evening

  All month · Saturn in the southwest after dark; Jupiter and Mars in the east later in the evening

  Saturn is low in the southwest at dusk, lower each week. Jupiter, heading for opposition on February 10, rises in the east during the evening and outshines every star, and Mars, a fainter orange point in the same eastern sky, gains brightness ahead of its own opposition later in February. By late January Mercury starts its best evening showing of the winter, low in the west-southwest after sunset.

What can Vermont families do outdoors in January 2027?

Safety notes for January in Vermont