We have a new pet at the Kinton house. Well, sort of.

As I was working in the barn one afternoon, I noticed a bird nest neatly built on a shelf in the tack room. I leaned in really close for a good look and a bird flew out. The breeze off the flap of its wings actually blew my hair out of my face. It nearly scared me to death!

From that day on, as I was working in the tack room, I would always look to see if the bird was in the nest but I would not look too close. I learned that if I looked out of the corner of my eye I could see its beady little eyes blinking back at me.

After a few weeks of this, I began to see a bird hopping around on the barn floor. As I went about my chores, it would just hang out with me. It didn't fly off. It wasn't afraid. Of course I talk all the time, to everything, so I talked to it. It hopped and cocked its head and looked at me.

One day I noticed that no one was in the barn but me. The horses were out in the field and there was no sign of my little barn bird. When I called the horses in for their feed, there was the bird riding on my 1,200-pound quarter horse's rear end. It looked just like one of those birds riding a rhino!

From then on, wherever the horses were, the bird was also. When I didn't see it riding them, it was on the ground, never too far from a muzzle. It hopped as they ate. I think it thought it was a horse.

I guess with fall moving in and summer moving out, the birds are starting to fly south for the winter. The nest in the tack room is empty and I haven't seen our barn bird in a few weeks now. I suppose he might have just wanted to get away from my talking.

Wherever he is, I hope he's found a few horses to keep him company. Oh and maybe somewhere warm there will be one old crazy barn lady to talk to him.

Melissa Kinton is a stay-at-home mom. She is currently rearing one son, one daughter, two cats, two horses, three dogs, one husband and one prodigal bird. She may be reached at willandmelissak@hotmail.com.