Beautiful sights in nature can be long-lasting or fleeting. Sometimes a split second is all it takes to leave an impression.

A beautiful view from a mountaintop is always there. You could hike to the top of Mount Monadnock or Mount Washington and enjoy the panoramic splendor today, tomorrow or next month. The view will always be there. Sure, it will change with the seasons and weather, but the mountain isn’t going anywhere. You could plan months or even years ahead and count on seeing the beautiful view.

An awe-inspiring sunrise or sunset is more fleeting. First of all, there is no guarantee a gorgeous sunrise or sunset will happen at all. But when you do happen to catch one, the view lasts for 20 or 30 minutes. You could grab a seat and watch the show until it is either dark or light, depending on whether it’s a sunrise or sunset.

With birdwatching, most memorable sights are fleeting, and unless you are visiting a zoo or nature center, there are no guarantees. There are some almost certainties, such as a hawk watch location in the fall or a bald eagle watching spot in the winter, but those sightings are mostly fleeting. During a hawk watch, the bird is spotted as it approaches, observed as it flies overhead and then disappears into the distant sky. Eagle watches can offer a longer view as the large birds rest in trees near the water, but they can take off at any time.

Typical birdwatching adventures are even more fleeting. The spring migration is a good example of this. Warblers are a sought-after type of bird in April and May, and finding them is always a thrill. For the most part, though, warblers are seen for only a few seconds or minutes at a time. They aren’t known for sitting still and offering long views.

Other birds such as scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks and Baltimore orioles typically offer only short glimpses as well. If you are lucky enough to attract these birds to a feeder, your view will last longer, of course. If not, you’re likely to see them at the tops of trees for only short periods of time.

Then there are the sightings that last only a few seconds, but make you feel fortunate to have witnessed it. A hawk swoops down on a squirrel, a falcon chases a duck, or a young bird takes its first flight, for example.

Finally, there are the moments that last only a split second but leave a lasting imprint. The other morning, I had one of those experiences.

I was at my usual stomping grounds when I came to the part of the walk that passes near a pond and adjoining marshlands. The walk started at sunrise, but this was an hour or so into the trek. The sunlight was still perfect, however, with that golden aura all around. 

The area was particularly birdy that morning, especially by mid-March standards. I heard a red-shouldered hawk pair and a pileated woodpecker in the distance, and saw a golden-crowned kinglet, winter wren and yellow-bellied sapsucker near the marsh.

Suddenly, as the sun continued to rise in the east, I glanced west just in time to see a red-winged blackbird chasing an eastern bluebird. I guess the blackbird didn’t like the bluebird anywhere near its turf. Typical of these chases, both birds flew seemingly 100 miles per hour in a haphazard manner. For one millisecond, both birds turned their backs just right so as to expose their brilliant colors in the golden glow of the still-rising sun. The bright red and yellow on both wings of the blackbird paired with the vivid deep blue of the bluebird made for a scene I won’t soon forget.

Also typical of these chases, it was over in a few seconds. The bluebird got the message and cleared out. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and looking in the right direction to experience it.

Nature’s beauty is eternal, but some of its best moments happen in the blink of an eye. It’s the memory of that moment that keeps the beauty alive.