“Is that the eagle?”

I looked up, and framed in the break between the burnt umber of the oak leaves and the flaming orange of the maple, silhouetted against a milky sky, were the outstretched wings of a large bird soaring just above the treetops. I felt for my camera and got off one shot before it disappeared.

“Was it the eagle?” my sister Claire questioned again. “It was huge.”

There was no doubt we had seen the bald eagle that has taken residence in the nearby pines overlooking the lake.

The first of the eagles were spotted on the far shore of the lake maybe eight to 10 years ago. It was a major event then. Saying you had seen a bald eagle in upstate New York was akin to saying you had just seen a bobcat walking down West Shore Road. You knew it was possible that bald eagles could be in the area, but it seemed highly unlikely that you would see one or that it would live there.

I recall the skeptics when I excitedly announced I had seen an eagle perched in the upper branches of a dead tree overhanging the lake. They didn’t say it, yet I could imagine them thinking, “He doesn’t know a sea gull [of which there are a lot] from an eagle.”

The conversation would go something like this: “Well, I’ve heard they are making a bit of a comeback, so it might have been a bald eagle. It’s more likely you saw a red tail hawk; they’re around.”

It had me questioning why we’re so prepared to dismiss a harbinger of good news and yet so willingly accept a report contrary to our best interests. Had I instead said the lake was choked with weeds and fish were gasping on the surface, I expect there would have been alarm but little questioning of the validity of the sighting.

No matter the topic, that is the case. Take the recent report that state unemployment has dropped, albeit by a minuscule amount. That’s good news, but rather than accepting a positive development, attention focused on the accuracy of the calculation. Might the numbers have been skewed in some fashion?

On the other hand, had the unemployment rate increased, it’s likely there would have been no such questioning. Is it just easier to believe in the bad things? Are we afraid that something good might turn out to be bad, and hence rather than being disappointed refuse to readily accept them?

It is, why I think, some good news stories are so incredible that we can’t forget them. I don’t remember the names or when it happened, but there’s no way of forgetting the housewife who lost her engagement ring and realized it slipped off while dumping the trash. The bin had already been collected, but she didn’t give up hope, rallying friends and even municipal officials in her hunt. The truck was stopped at the landfill and her ring was recovered from all the trash. The message is that good will come if you persist.

You might ask what this has to do with bald eagles, whether in upstate New York or right in Warwick. I’ve seen them here, too.

Apart from being the national bird and an American icon, the eagle – despite all we have done to destroy it and its habitat – is making a persistent comeback. It is not giving up, and just as remarkable – to disprove the skeptics – we have had something to do with it. Efforts to save the bird have worked.

It wasn’t all that long ago that spotting a wild turkey or a coyote was extraordinary, and even reason to call the local newspaper. Today, harbor seals aren’t uncommon, nor are osprey and even bald eagles. Now it takes sightings of black bear and beluga whales – both seen recently in Rhode Island – to get out the camera crews.

Bald eagles, however, hold a special place. Indeed, they are majestic, awe-inspiring and powerful. It’s the good news they bring that thrills me.

Surely, there are other indicators that the planet we share is not as bad off as we are often so prepared to accept. Seeing a bald eagle on the wing takes your breath away. It’s good.