I took my usual morning bird walk in the park today, but spring migration is off to sort of a slow start and the birds were oddly absent. One important piece of local bird news may be partly responsible — a bald eagle has been visiting us for the past month or so! The once-endangered raptor has come roaring back in recent years, and there are now a number of nesting pairs in New Jersey, but this is the first individual I’ve ever seen so close to home. That’s exciting! But I’m sure he scares our resident and migratory birds (although our common hawks are more dangerous to them than the mostly pescatarian eagle).
With few birds to look at, I walked on, deciding to see what else I could observe today. I always enjoy this exercise in mindfulness and this morning turned out to the full of especially engaging episodes. First among them, a dramatic morning sky — a band of dark cloud hung over the eastern horizon, its scalloped edges brilliantly gilded by the sun rising behind it. It was like something out of an old movie, when the voice of God would speak!
As I continued on, I passed a child care center which was just opening for the day. A few parents with tiny children stood waiting outside. When the door was opened by a young woman, the children shrieked with joy, and one rushed up and hugged her around her knees. How charming! I was reminded of how happy it made me, when my own children were small, to see the special loving relationships they were developing with others. I figured it stood them in good stead for the future (as indeed it has).
I turned a corner and walked up one of my favorite residential streets. It’s lined with small frame cottages, several of them brightly painted, most with inviting porches. Since I still had birds on my mind, my ears perked up when I heard unusual birdsong near me. Peeking around a leafy hedge onto one of the porches, I saw a big birdcage that had been placed outside, occupied by three brightly colored tropical birds. I believe that one was a green parrot or conure; the other two were cockatiels, with gray bodies and pale yellow heads. Yellow fan-like crests rose from atop their heads, and on their faces were orange cheek patches, as if someone had inexpertly applied blush. Listening more closely, I heard reggae music playing nearby, as if a radio had been left on to entertain the birds. (As denizens of the tropics, no doubt they enjoy this genre of music.) And appropriately, I caught a whiff of ganja, another Jamaican specialty. I thought that someone was having a very good morning!
And now I was too, with my trove of happy little sights. I headed home to start my quotidian work day feeling a bit buoyed by it all. May all our mornings begin with such diverting pleasures.
Linnetontheleaf 
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