I love this thread.
Still in the duckling phase here; they're all over the place. Bald eagles also. I miss the winter birds but I made smoochy noises today when I saw Mt. Rainier very much "out", so there are definitely compensations.
"My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks