Birds Have Joined the Chorus

My perception of how the seasons "should" unfold was undoubtedly set by my childhood experience growing up in New England. Namely, four distinct seasons: a "real" winter with snow, spring with less snow, more rain, and gradual warming with trees budding, wildflowers blooming, and increased animal activity apparent, and so on. You know the drill. It's the stereotypical four seasons of children's storybooks. So, it can be disconcerting to live in California which has such a range of seasonal patterns. While my home town of Quincy has patterns resembling my birthplace, ironically close to Quincy, Massachusetts, I read the San Francisco Chronicle, the only daily paper available here, and it describes the emergence of spring in the Bay Area, anywhere from December when the rains bring a greening of the golden hills, to February, by which time many species of wildflowers are at their peak. Likewise, within an hour of my home in Quincy, there are communities at higher elevations that may not see patterns of spring for another couple of months.
I feel lucky to be able to reminisce via my built-in spring consciousness here in Quincy, yet I can fast forward to the peak of spring, as I will do this weekend, by driving down to Chico or Table Mountain where the wildflowers are already bursting forth, or drive in the other direction to go skiing for another couple of months.
I am working on a CD of Plumas County wildflowers, and I'm debating whether to organize the slide show around plant families, or a chronology of blooming times, or by habitat. The most appealing idea, so far, is revealed in my tentative title, "Chasing Spring Though Plumas County." It would begin with the earliest flowers to bloom at the lowest elevations, around mid-February, then follow the blooming up in elevation along Highway 70, to the 5,000' level, then take a side trip up to the Lakes Basin, around 6,500' where spring doesn't peak until late June or July.
In summary, this morning I heard the birds chattering around my house before dawn for the first time this season. Added to the chorus frogs that emerged a few days earlier, it is an exciting time of year. My house is surrounded by mixed coniferous forest that provides a wide range of habitats. Even though I'm on the edge of town, I have seen bears, foxes, skunks, deer, squirrels, and many species of birds in my yard. It's all good - except when the bears tip over the trash cans or the skunks get too friendly with our dogs and cats.