Evening Walk

It was very windy when we went for our walk up on the cliffs this morning but by this evening it had calmed down a lot. These geese must have settled down for the night in the barley field, but at the sight of Ollie and me they took to the skies!

Last year the number of geese in Orkney was 77,500. They are huge, attractive birds and it is wonderful to see them, especially in flight, and hear them calling.

Unfortunately they are also an agricultural menace. Not only do they eat the grass, but pull it up, roots and all, and they droppings ruin what grass is left. Over the years the numbers in Orkney have risen hugely, and more of them stay here all year round. All sorts of methods have been tried to scare them away, there was even a professional goose scarer employed at one point!

This year there is to be a cull of 5,500 of them, and a scheme whereby some of the meat can be sold under licence locally. Hopefully it will be closely monitored.