They say that one swallow does not make the spring, but I disagree, especially when it sings as beautifully as this Barn Swallow twittering away in Deming, New Mexico.

The long drive to Roswell turned up numerous other signs of the season. Wildflowers, including Gooding’s verbena, are more conspicuous this year on the plains of the Chihuahuan desert than back home in Tucson.

But the one harbinger of spring to warm a prairie boy’s heart is the return of the Swainson’s Hawks from their South American wintering grounds.

They’re here, it’s here!