By far one of the best times to go for a ride is right after a storm. All the creatures of the forest are upset and they're out-n-about on the trails.
Example: yesterday we had some nasty storms come through the Twin Cities, high wind, rain, thunder and lightening and even some funnel clouds were sighted. After everything had passed I went for a quick ride along the Gateway Trail. There were lots of geese along with their goslings which are pretty normal on the Gateway. The goslings are actually pretty big by this time of the year.
I spied a mama turkey and her poults about 6 of them from what I could see. They were right on the path and scurried into the bushes when I got near them.
My favorite sighting was a Doe, she was beautiful. I had just turned off the trail and she was standing at the top of a small hill; I was within 15 feet of her. We both stopped, stared for a second and then she bolted into the woods. It was great :)
