Mary Ann, Fr. Charlie, and I went to Mt. Ord on June 16. We got to FR1688 (Forest Road 1688) at about 8:20 AM. We met Ann Leight there, who is a prolific birder and posts a lot on ebird.org. She is a regular at Mt. Ord.
Ann had seen a Scott’s Oriole about 1/4 mile back down the road “at the saddle in the road, near a big rock”. We hiked down there but didn’t see the Scott’s. Then we hiked the ‘loop’: up FR1688 to the campground, and through the forest back to the car.
We ate lunch at the car, and then drove to the top, where the parking lot is, before the trail up to the antennas and towers. On the drive up, we saw a large Mountain Lion (aka Cougar; aka Puma), running on the road in front of our car. We stopped, but it scrambled up an embankment and off into the desert, before we could get a photo. It was a beautiful, large cat, and a treat to see.
At the top, we hiked a little ways up the trail, to a side trail that gave a good view of Roosevelt Lake. In the past there was a field of flowering New Mexico Thistles that attracted butterflies and White-lined Sphinx Moths. We were too late on this trip, and the flowers were all past prime.
We left for the 50 minute drive home at about 1:30 PM. It was a great trip. It was a hot day in Phoenix, and nice and cool on Mt. Ord.
