For avid birders there may be no better spot in the entire Elkhorn Slough vicinity than the privately owned MoonGlow Dairy. I was first able to arrange birding access here about 20 years ago, and the owners -- Louis & Carol Calcagno -- have welcomed birders ever since (that's me in the photo above gesturing toward the freshwater pond which at that moment held a vagrant Little Stint; photo taken Sep 1985 by Arnold Small). Because I "discovered" this site and arranged access two decades ago and have birded here regularly ever since, I feel a special responsibility for birders' behavior here. Indeed, this web page is only posted with the permission of the Calcagnos, and birders must remember that access could be closed at any time. You have no "rights" to be here; however, we are very lucky to be welcome at present.

MoonGlow Dairy is located 1.2 miles east of Highway 1 in Moss Landing off Dolan Road (Dolan Rd. goes inland from Hwy 1 at the Moss Landing power plant). There is a sign for "Moon Glow Dairy" and one turns left (north) on a dirt road into the dairy. In about a half-mile you reach the first cattle pens. Turn left here and continue as far as you can, turning right at the end. This dirt road ends in a hundred yards in a lot overlooking the freshwater pond and Elkhorn Slough; your view is similar to that shown in the photo (right) but the water level in the freshwater pond varies seasonally. Cattle pens will be on your right, and a huge eucalyptus grove is immediately on your left. Park only along the edge of this eucalyptus grove.

Here are the absolutely critical rules that you must follow to bird at MoonGlow Dairy. They are actually just common sense and good manners, but I am amazed that sometimes birdwatchers desperate to see some rare bird will forget their manners:

• Park only along the eucalyptus grove (unless you are a long-time local birder who is permitted to park at another viewpoint). In any event, you must park AWAY FROM THE CATTLE TROUGHS. The cows are fed daily by a truck that goes along the troughs. If you park next the troughs you would block the feed truck. Some birders have thoughtlessly done this in the past -- NEVER PARK NEAR A CATTLE TROUGH OR CATTLE PEN. Also never leave your vehicle where it will block any of the roads.
• Drive slowly on the dirt roads  -- It doesn't matter that you've been driving fast freeways for hours to chase some rarity. You are now on private property through the good graces of some really nice people -- so be courteous, damn it. Drive so you do NOT raise a cloud of dust!
• It goes without saying that you should take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints.
• Stay away from the residences.
• Be aware of the dairy operations, and always stay out of the way of the workers.

I would also add from sad experience (right; photo Sep 1979 by M. J. Lippsmeyer) that you should not try to walk out into the drying ponds to get better views or photos. What looks like dry muck is actually a thin dry crust over a wet green bog. Basically it is watery cow dung with a dry crust. I had to throw these pants away (and I didn't get the photos of the mystery stint either).

Here is what you may do:

• Scope the freshwater pond and the Slough from the heights overlooking the pond. You can walk from the eucalyptus grove along a dirt road up by several cattle pens for fabulous views of the Slough. Also be sure to check the mucky cattle pens which have held rare blackbirds (including Great-tailed Grackle once) and golden-plovers in fall. The tidal Elkhorn Slough is full of birds, and with a scope you can work on waders, gulls, terns, ducks, grebes (both Western & Clark's regular just here), and occasionally a rare alcid. The weedy hemlock next to the road, and above the ponds, has Allen's Hummingbirds in spring, and Yellow Warblers in fall, plus an autumn chance for Willow Flycatcher or Palm Warbler.
• Walk the levee that starts at the eucalyptus grove, goes around the big freshwater pond (which we call "pond #1") and heads upslough along the edge of Elkhorn Slough itself. As shown on the bottom of this page, pond #1 has held some exceptional birds over the years, and the edge of the Slough adjacent to that pond has had Bar-tailed Godwit, Franklin's Gull, Least Tern and much more. The freshwater pond #1 is regularly visited in fall by Red-necked & Wilson's Phalaropes and Pectoral, Baird's, and Semipalmated Sandpipers (but the latter is rare and should not be confused with the many Least and Western Sandpipers present). In good Pectoral years a few Sharp-tailed Sandpipers have occurred, and Ruff and other vagrants are semi-regular as rarities. This freshwater pond is kept full during the winter/spring/summer but is drawn down during the early fall to prepare it for the next winter's rains. This management creates the wonderful shorebird habitat in September-October.
• This levee between pond #1 and Elkhorn Slough continues inland past a variably wet reedy area (Bobolink, rails) to pond #2 which is a much smaller and reedy-edged pond that often has ducks, shorebirds, and phalaropes (in season). The dike (a broad dirt road but which grows low weeds) ends at a wooden fence from which you may view pond #3 to the east (pond #3 is not owned by MoonGlow Dairy, so we have no access beyond this viewpoint). Pond #3 is often filled with water and ducks. In fall 1999 it was daily visited off-and-on by a White-winged Tern for two months; many other rarities have occurred over the years.
• The cattle pens of the dairy hold flocks of Tricolored Blackbirds from at least July into April (in May-June the "Trikes" are at breeding colonies). These flocks often have a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds in May and in early fall; in late fall-winter the pens sometimes have Cattle Egrets.

In fall migration, the northern and eastern edge of the grove often harbor interesting landbird migrants. Some of these appear in the Elkhorn Slough vagrant page (click below). Flocks of Yellow & Wilson's Warblers in September give way to many Yellow-rumpeds in October, but watch especially for vagrant warblers and Empidonax flycatchers. In all, over 240 species have occurred at or been viewed from MoonGlow Dairy.

A complete MoonGlow Dairy list is on-line HERE;

A photo gallery of Elkhorn Slough vagrants is on-line HERE.

And this collection does not include the White-winged Tern -- another second California record -- whose photo appears on my Elkhorn Slough vagrants page with additional photos and information on my 1999 Monterey County highlights page.

The answers to the rarity photos are (left to right): Smith's Longspur (photo 14 Sep 1990), Little Stint (photo 19 Sep 1985), and White Wagtail (photo 22 Dec 1990).

Again I wish to thank Louis & Carol Calcagno for their hospitality in permitting birder access here, and for their management of the freshwater pond in ways that provide outstanding shorebird habitat in fall, and fine duck habitat in winter. The Calcagnos have twice received American Birding Association commendations: in 1990 for the White Wagtail event and in 1999 for the White-winged Tern episode. In the photo (right or above) Louis & Carol Calcagno received their 2000 ABA commendation from Rita Carratello, local Audubon newsletter editor. The famouse "White-winged Tern pond" is visible directly behind them (photo 30 Sep 2000; © 2000 D. Roberson). The Calcagnos were also honored by the local Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society in 1985 for their graciousness duirng the Little Stint. In each situation MoonGlow Dairy hosted hundreds, maybe thousands, of birdwatchers.

[Louis Calcagno has also served on the California Coastal Commission and is currently on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.]

Literature cited:

Roberson, D., and C. Tenney, eds. 1993. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Monterey County, California. Monterey Pen. Audubon Soc., Carmel, CA.