Left: This juvenile Anna's Hummingbird may have fledged this month

It's deep winter, so the last things on anyone's mind are nests and chicks, anyone except hummingbird mothers, that is. January is when they nest for the first time of the year and fledge youngsters by the end of the month. Both our local Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds are busy nesting right now, so keep your nectar feeders full and fresh.

It doesn't freeze here, so sometimes it's easy to forget that January is the coldest month of the year. Nights are longer and colder than at any other time, and birds need any extra calories that they can get. They are hoping for full feeders that include something a little extra for the cold, such as suet cakes on a dish or platform, or bark butter bits (little balls of suet) added to their regular seed mix. Those extra calories and fat help them get through the cold nights.

               Right: Yellow-rumped Warbler in a tree (Larry Naylor)

 If you are using the Merlin app on your phone, it may tell you that there is a Yellow-rumped Warbler nearby. But, where is it, you wonder? Warblers are small and fast-moving, but they will slow down at your water source and feeder, especially if you put out live worms, their winter favorite.

Maybe holiday events and travel have cut into your bird-viewing lately. With the holidays over, what are you going to do with all your free time? Why not restart your Project FeederWatch counting? This winter bird count is one of the most important for measuring the health of our bird population, and they want you to count only two consecutive days a week! Easy peasy!

Left: Downy Woodpecker on tree trunk

Winter is here fully, so now we see the familiar faces of winter at our feeders. Woodpeckers and nuthatches may show up looking for nuts and suet. They drill into tree trunks looking for bugs, sounding like a small jackhammer. Bushtits come in little flocks, chirping cheerfully as they search for bugs and sunflower seeds.

Winter is here fully, so now we see the familiar faces of winter at our feeders. Woodpeckers and nuthatches may show up looking for nuts and suet. They drill into tree trunks looking for bugs, sounding like a small jackhammer. Bushtits come in little flocks, chirping cheerfully as they search for bugs and sunflower seeds.

With their wild foods all used up, Goldfinches are likely to come to feeders, especially for sunflower chips.

Our local Bald Eagles—Jackie and Shadow in Big Bear or any of the Channel Island crowd, such as Thunder and Akecheta at West End, Catalina—are finishing off their nests and laying eggs to produce the next generation of raptors. Bald eagle chicks are cute and energetic, keeping their parents busy feeding their always-hungry mouths.

If you plan a walk along the Venice Canals or down to the Marina del Rey, watch for the nests being created by Great Blue Herons or Snowy Egrets. Nests can be on the ground or, occasionally, in trees if there is too much human traffic.

The Martin Luther Kind holiday is also the weekend of the Morro Bay Bird Festival (https://morrobaybirdfestival.org/), a five-day (Jan. 11-15) festival of lectures, tours, bird-watching and socializing around beautiful Morro Bay. This year's event features award-winning author Jennifer Ackerman and wildlife biologist John Muir Laws

You have to bundle up to see them, but the Quarantid Meteor Shower on Jan. 3-4 can produce up to 60 meteors per hour! Break out your warmest winter gear and a thermos of hot coffee.