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| Marbled Godwit Landing, Moss Landing |
Now I know where all the Marbled Godwits are. Years ago, I used to see them quite often at Ocean Beach, but not so much lately. When I parked my car at the end of Jetty Road this morning and walked around the sand dunes to check out the beach, my face lit up with joy when I saw a few dozen marbled godwits foraging with a mess of Sanderlings and a lone Long-billed Curlew.
Despite arriving in the dark, many surfers and fishermen were already there. The only no-shows were the sea otters -- the very critters I'd made the two-hour drive down there to see. Supposedly fall is the best time to see otters at Moss Landing, but a month past the equinox and there was no raft of snoozing otters in the harbor, nor active otters hunting along the jetty. I didn't see a single otter until I was on my way out, where a crusty old broke-tooth otter was crunching crabs in its powerful jaws.
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| Dawn view of Moss Landing's iconic 500-foot smokestacks (retired from service, but still standing) at the 76-year-old, 1,060 megawatt, natural-gas-fired power plant (and, more recently, a battery storage facility which experienced a major fire in January 2025). |
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| Fishing boat exiting the harbor. |
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| A couple of Common Murres were hanging out along the jetty. |
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Pelicans & Surfers on Dawn Patrol
(Note the surfer not wearing a wetsuit!) |
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| First Light |
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| Dawn Reflections |
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| Pelicans Catching a Drift |
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| Despite all the birds probing the sand for mole crabs, few crabs were actually being caught. Here, a Willet tried to snag the godwit's prize. |
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| Fellow godwits aren't above such chicanery either. |
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| The morning sun gradually rose high enough to barely light the beach. |
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| Even while some parts of the beach were in sun, others remained in shade for some time. |
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| Handsome Marbled Godwit in Morning Light |
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| It was great to see so much bird life in one place. |
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| Sanderlings on the March |
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| Here they come! |
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| Nimble-toed Runner |
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| Long-billed Curlew |
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| There were lots of bird and sea lion carcasses on the beach, including a huge sea lion that was being consumed by maggots. |
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| Senior Otter |
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| Note the otter's lower left incisor is missing. Like us, otters don't grow new adult teeth when they're lost. |
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The otters in Elkhorn Slough are not known for being shy around humans. This one didn't bat an eyelash when it popped up (with a small crab) very close to where I was standing.
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| At one point I could see the otter swimming underwater, but other times I had to follow its tiny bubbles as they broke the surface of the water. |
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| Thanks for letting me hang out with you for a little while, fellow old-timer. |
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