Living along the Pacific Flyway allows all sorts of
interesting bird experiences. The horses become accustomed to the sights
and sounds of most of them. Horses never get used to pheasants,
however. Pheasants hide in the brush until one is practically on top of
them; then, right at your foot (or hoof), they fly out in a frenzy of wing
flapping and squawky gobbling noises. At certain times of the year, the
lead rider knows that at any second the fun will begin.
One year it was unusually cold, and the
agricultural ditches froze over. The ducks that winter in the area are
often seen floating in the water. That year, however, we
were surprised and amused to see the ducks fly down for their water
landing, hit the ice, and skid or ski quite a distance before
regaining their composure and figuring out what had gone wrong in their
habitat.
An incredible experience I had was riding alone and
approaching a field covered by geese. I was able to get very close before
they were scared by the horse and rider. In unison, they took
flight. Having only seen this in the distance before, I was amazed by the
deafening noise of thousands of wings flapping. I'll never forget
that sight and sound.
