From Issue Seven of Hidden Scotland Magazine

The Wintering Geese of Islay

The tens of thousands of geese that winter on Islay.

Printed in Issue Seven of Hidden Scotland Magazine, Autumn and Winter 2023–24.

Autumn is a season of change: leaves are shed, fires lit, fungi flourish, ghost stories are shared, and our skies buzz with migrating birds. Here in the Inner Hebrides, tens of thousands of geese journey back to us. Travelling from Greenland each year, these noisy birds make their annual pilgrimage back to the Isle of Islay, escaping the harsh winter of their arctic breeding grounds for a milder Hebridean one.

This seasonal surge of geese is a spectacle to behold, with wave after wave of them arriving around early October. Arriving from the north, with Mull to their rear, they begin their descent into the mouth of Loch Gruinart and on towards the head of the loch, where they arrive on the Gruinart flats. In a matter of just a few weeks, Loch Gruinart is completely transformed into a hive of noisy activity, as hundreds of geese become thousands, and a wall of sound envelops the landscape. Upon their arrival, the geese will congregate across the surrounding mudflats, salt marsh, and grasslands, using this part of the island as a meeting location to socialise and gather, before eventually spreading across Islay as winter progresses. Though high numbers of birds do remain around Gruinart throughout, Bridgend is also an important location. Both of these sites are situated on tidal sea lochs and are used as key roost sites. Thousands of geese roost together on the loch, mudflats and salt marsh for safety.

The two key species we have as wintering tenants are the Barnacle Geese, and to a lesser extent the Greenland White-fronted Goose. Both very different looking species of geese, but equally as charismatic. In recent years, around 30,000 Barnacle Geese and 5,500 Greenland White-fronted spent the winter on Islay. Their calls provide an indicative soundtrack to winter on the Queen of the Hebrides.

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