Ill try answer the question in my own experience, I dont speak for "enlightenment" as such because theres so many different takes on it, and my take wasnt necessarily MCTB 1st path, until later on.
But for me , yes it was one of the most prominent things about it, in fact I began to use it as a measure of how "deep" I was in my awakening, but that was just me being a bit silly and naive I think.
It also might be to do with your personality , or how deep in your own thoughts you were prior to it.
What I mean by that is, I used to go outside for a cigarette before my perceptual shift, but Id stand out there and mull over my thoughts, I found it quite enjoyable, usually it was just pointless over excited dreaming about the future, after awakening, I went out for a cigarette, and because of the complete silence inside I found myself just looking at stuff, like trees blowing , sound of a gate creeking, wind etc. This came and went for a about a year (although I gave up the cigs

), but after what I believe is MCTB 1st path its been the case I would say about 80/90% of the time. But sometimes you just dont have time to stand there and look at nature.
Again though, it might be a personality thing, maybe I ponder or look into that kind of thing more than others, or perhaps its how the awakening hit me personally, in that , because it was the first thing I noticed , Ive sort of held onto it more than others.
I think it the effect is directly proportional to how silent the mind is, I would imagine an "unenlightened" person could do some some serious concentration for a few hours, step outside and get a good glimpse, if just for a few minutes of what we're talking about here.
Trees, the effects of wind on plants etc, and cars moving have been the things I found interesting to look at, not rubbish to be honest, that said , during REALLY peaceful moments, yes even a bag blowing can be really nice to look at, and has that sense of beauty you mention.
All this stuff is just experience thoguh, it doesnt particularly mean anything other than that the mind is not consuming your attention (in my opinion), and certainly doesnt act as a pointer.