National Bird Count

Every Christmas season, the National Audubon Society sponsors a count of bird species and bird numbers nationwide. Birding folks count a multitude of areas, with a different area each day and over 10 days. Our Moss Landing Quad is counted every New Year's Day. Your innkeeper Melanie has been participating for over 30 years. Many annual counters come and stay overnight at the Captain's Inn prior to count day. Our Captain Yohn donates his boat to the count and winds all along the slough. Once the sun is down, everyone gathers at the "countdown" dinner and shares the results and the rarities. The Moss Landing area is often in the top 10 to top 3 in the nation! This year there were at least 199 different species recorded. This is a photo of bird counters and Captain's Inn guests on the slough on New Year's day.

Elkhorn Slough Safari

One of the most popular day trips is visiting the Elkhorn Slough. Many of our guests take the Elkhorn Slough Safari. The stable pontoon boat and its naturalist guide take you on an exploration of the calm backwaters of the second largest wetland in California. You will see sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, and thousands of birds. This is one of the best ways to see the highest number of sea otters. At the bed and breakfast many of the professional and amatuer photographers charter the safari to go out for a very special wildlife photo session. Guests come back to the inn full of stories of wonderful wildlife watching. For example an otter cracking open a clam to eat, pelicans diving to get sardines, or the baby seal nursing.

Rare and Unusual Birds

Birding is always a fun and successful undertaking in Moss Landing, Elkhorn Slough, and at the Captain's Inn. We have a bird checklist for the bed and breakfast with over 190 species!! This last week has been no exception with two strange sightings. The first is a rare bird, generally occurring on the East coast. This Rose-breasted Grosbeak decided to drink from our water trough just long enough for the innkeeper to snap its photo and prove it was here. There is a new stranger sighted by guests outside the boathouse windows - a Swan!! This is most likely an escaped domestic swan, it is a mute swan. There is always wildlife to watch here.