Guardians of the Geese

Posted on 29/10/2021 by Tom Allan

We live in an age of super-hero movies, in which fantastical characters rise up to save the world. But perhaps that’s why the everyday heroes living amongst us get so little notice.

The small band of folk who come out to Findhorn Bay through the autumn and winter months to witness and guard the thousands of migratory geese that make it their home for half the year, are one such group of unsung heroes.

Almost every-day, Sue, Pete, Fraser and other good folk will make an appearance, basking in one Scotland’s most beautiful and inspiring natural wonders. Tens of thousands of geese rise from the incoming tide and fly in formations inland to graze on farmland. They return each day, once the waters have receded, attuned to the rhythms of the sea.

Our colourful band are also there to discourage, dissuade and deter the hunters who come to shoot the geese from the shoreline. Some are local hunters for whom a seasonal hunt “for the pot” is a tradition, but many come from far way – including the south of England – for a touristic hunt, sometimes as part of an organised tour group.

For years, the number of hunters coming was on the rise, and during the hunting season the residents of Kinloss, Findhorn and the eco-village could be guaranteed a remarkable daily dose of gunfire echoing through the vast bowl like expanse of Findhorn Bay. But, partly due to the lock-downs, and partly due to the efforts of local activists, the hunting seems to have declined somewhat.

What the future will bring is unsure. Perhaps the hunting tourism will grow again, or perhaps we could start a new kind of thoughtful nature tourism to Findhorn Bay – where people come not just for the summer months, the sand-dunes and beaches, but come for those hauntingly beautiful autumn and winter months when the sky is a blue so vivid it hurts the eyes, and the geese rise like leaves in a hurricane into the sky.

Come and see it for yourself – and if you passing through, grab a cuppa with the geese guardians. On Saturdays they bring along “Ernie” a woodfired tea urn. Just don’t forget to bring some biscuits – and be ready for an awe inspiring spectacle…