Mount Ord, in Tonto National Forest (Payson District), is part of the Mazatal Mountain range in Maricopa and Gila Counties.
Access: Driving east on State Route 87 toward Payson, at approximately five (5) miles past Sunflower, look for a dirt road off to the right - marked either Mt. Ord or Forest Road 626. This will take you through several different habitats on the mountain from desert scrub, pinyon-juniper and oak-pine forest up to the summit parking area with side trails and the walkable dirt road past the fenced area to the summit.
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Our extreme desert valley daytime temperatures in May of 100-111°F had already relented to nighttime temperatures in the high 60s. Still, Mt. Ord sounded cooler to Hinde Silver and I than the high temps predicted for our homes in Pinal County.
Arriving at FR 626 at 5:45 a.m. @ 64°F, I lowered the car windows to listen for birds. First sighting was Gambel’s Quail scooting away from the road into scrub brush. Overall, It was sounding good so I pulled off at the corral where we got out to see what species might show up for us at that location.
Aside from hearing and seeing BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWs, both of us wanted photos so we took our time staying still and quiet until a couple of them perched up to continue their high-pitched trill.
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| BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. (above and below) |
GRAY VIREO was our second species photographed. An almost guaranteed sighting at this lower scrubland area, this was the first time I was able to get photos of it.
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| GRAY VIREO (above and below) |
Within the half hour we stayed at that spot, WHITE-WINGED AND MOURNING DOVE were present as was a single WOODHOUSE’S SCRUB-JAY.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S69989569
Continuing up the mountain to our next stop at Forest Road 1688, I parked in a shady spot in preparation for walking the dirt and rocky road up through the pine-oak forest from where we could look down at the desert brush below that we had already birded.
Again, we heard a lot of bird song but mostly from the same species (BEWICK'S WREN and SPOTTED TOWHEE) when we first started out. I was birding slowly in an attempt to find some of the birds belonging to other calls. Hinde continued on up the trail. When I spotted the WESTERN TANAGER, I called to her but she was already beyond hearing me. Below are the pics of the tanager I managed through the pine forest.
The SPOTTED TOWHEEs seemed to be everywhere as we ascended to the first "high" campground site at 5800'.
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| SPOTTED TOWHEE |
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S69990153
After an hour or so at that location, we continued upward on FR 626 to the parking area beyond which the road is fenced off. There we ate lunch and birded side trails and a bit of the road beyond the gate (walkable).
Giving us a thrill were multiple WESTERN BLUE BIRDS, a male of which sang from various high perches continuously. Photos below:
With several very nice bird sightings, we were thrilled to get our final species: OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. Definitely not an everyday bird and I'm not certain I ever spotted that one on Mt. Ord previously. But between its well-known call to human ears: QUICK! THREE BEERS! and the photos, we definitely had great views of that uncommon bird. Larger than a Western Wood-Pewee (also a flycatcher), it is distinguished easily by its white throat and belly set off by its olive vest. Shown below in three photos.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S69986919
Off the mountain by 10:50 a.m., we checked out Sycamore Creek North (personal hot spot) and Sunflower (old Beeline Highway) on our return home where we enjoyed a few species we had not already seen. Very enjoyable mostly cool day under clear sky.
eBird links to those spots are below:
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S69988516
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