This morning I was watching the bald eagle nest at Eagle Eye Cam just before and during sunrise, their local time. The snowy grey of the night view slowly resolved itself into blurred outlines, most noticeably the white head of the parent eagle tucked under its wing as it slept.

As the light grew stronger, the parent eagle woke up, raised its head, and looked around, accounting for both chicks and perhaps checking out the weather. Next, it relieved itself, then stretched a wing out and began preening itself. That finished, it relaxed, sitting in a comfortable position for quite a while as the chicks slumbered on.

At some point of this routine, perhaps during the wing stretch, I began to feel like a voyeur. Everything about the eagle’s actions, from the waking up to the reluctance to get going and leave the nest, resembled a human going through her morning ablutions, then spending a few moments to steel herself to get ready and to go to work. All my eagle friend needed was a cup of coffee to complete the picture.

Whether you are raising eagle chicks or parenting adolescents, work and life can be hard to face first thing in the morning. Stretch and kick back a bit first.