| |
| Mount Ord Birding Loop, AZ | |
|
| | Mount Ord Birding Loop, AZ | | | |
|
|
Mount Ord Birding Loop, AZ
| | |
|
| Hiking | 7.20 Miles |
|
| | Hiking | 7.20 Miles | 5 Hrs 16 Mns | | 1.37 mph |
| | 1 LBS Pack | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Thankfully my passion for birding is as strong as it is for climbing. When my original climbing plans were aborted at 3:30am I simply exchanged the ropes and rack with binoculars and a notebook. I arrived at the lower parking lot before the sunrise and warmed up my "birding" ears with a variety of pre-recorded warbler songs and calls that I was hoping to hear and see. Sunrise never disappoints and it was not long before I was greeted with the chirps, buzzes, trills and other melodic noises the songsters begin their day with. Several of the expected birds were observed quickly; Ash-throated Flycatcher, Scott's Oriole, Northern Mockingbird, Raven, Gambel's Quail and Black-chinned Sparrow. The more secretive Crissal Thrasher was discovered further away from the road and in thick shrub cover. A Gray Vireo was heard and then finally seen after some juniper and acacia dodging. I wandered back to the truck and drove a mile and half up the road for some mixed forest adventure and warbler sleuthing.
Immediately after parking I saw the nonstop movement of the Bushtit and Black-throated Gray Warblers in an oak tree. Calls of the Bewick's Wren and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher were fairly constant throughout the hike. Along the drainages where there tends to be taller pines, oak, sycamores and more understory I could hear the Grace's Warbler high in the pines. With a little patience one of them finally flitted into view and sang loud and close enough to capture a nice sound recording. Four Black-headed Grosbeaks was a nice surprise, quickly followed by a Virginia Warbler. A Plumbeous Vireo sang loud and clear and was quite cooperative as I observed and attempted to record. My off trail bushwhack to the summit of Mt. Ord was highlighted by a sprinting deer that nearly knocked me over.
The thickets of oak and snags hosted an Acorn Woodpecker, Violet-green Swallows, a single Steller's Jay, several Western Bluebirds and a Spotted Towhee. When I reached the road below the fire tower I could see it was occupied. We watched one another through binoculars. At least now I know what a bird must feel like as I observe their lives. On the walk back down the road a White-breasted Nuthatch, Chipping Sparrows, a Northern Flicker, Orange-Crowned Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco and a Zone-Tailed Hawk were sighted.
After today's wanderings I have the distinction of walking, riding a bike, taking a motorcycle, driving a truck and even pushing my son's bike up the roads to the summit. |
|
Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Deer, rabbit, rock squirrel, whiptail lizard, horned lizard, Gray Flycatcher (probable) |
|
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
