Seasons in Lowland California
This can be an entertaining subject, since there are so many possible ways of dividing up the Californian year. Here are a number of possible alternatives. You can pick which you like best, or pick one for each of your favorite natural-history subjects, or ignore the lot, or make up your own, or . . .
1. The traditional, literal astronomical seasons:Spring—21 March (vernal equinox) to 20 June (summer solstice)
Summer—21 June (summer solstice) to 20 September (autumnal equinox)
Fall—21 September (autumnal equinox) to 20 December (winter solstice)
Winter—21 December (winter solstice) to 20 March (vernal equinox)
2. The simplest system for us might be
Rainy season—October through March
Dry season—April through September
3. A three-way system
Rainy season—November, December, January, February—coldest, wettest; overwintering birds
“Spring”—March, April, May, June—most plants flowering, all birds nesting
“Summer”—July, August, September, October
Note: breaks between “seasons” can be: 1) calendar month 2) middle of calendar month 3) 21st of month (in conformance with astronomical system). Any of the following systems can use any of these three permutations.
Six seasons:
January-February—rain and cold and freshness?
March-April—wildflowers, summer birds arrive
May-June—heavy duty nesting
July-August—dead period; fog on coast; birds quiet
September-October—warm on coast (indian summer); winter birds arrive
November-December—first regreening
Twelve “moons”:
January—frost moon
February—glowing green moon
March—new flower moon
April—clover moon
May—drying moon
June—baby bird moon
July—fog moon
August—changing moon
September—migrant moon
October—harvest moon/acorn moon
November—winter birds moon; hunter’s moon
December—new grass moon
You could do an all-plant or all-bird or all-insect version of this, e.g.:
January—lotsa duck moon
February—Allen’s hummer moon
March—swallows come back moon
April—grosbeak moon
May—pretty dunlin moon
June—fledgling moon
July—baby quail moon
August—big shorebird moon
September—lost warbler moon
October—accipiter moon
November—pheasant hunting moon
December—CBC moon
