He writes: "According to the books, the place to go for wild geese was Wells-next-the-Sea on the north coast of Norfolk. ..Upon some personal recommendation we had selected as our guide the well-known professional wildfowler, Sam Bone, & went round to see him on the evening of our arrival Unfortunately we had chosen the time of the full moon, which because of the tides, he told us, was not the best time to shoot geese at Wells. But we had seen few geese in those days, & we were content to see them even if we never fired a shot, though we did not say this to Sam. That night as I lay awake, I suddenly heard the magic Sound of geese & ran to the window, & from over towards the marsh came the call of the Pinkfeet. There must have been a big lot on the move for the sound seemed like a single singing roar made dim by the two miles of marsh that lay between. Next morning we stood on the shore. There was an orange glow in the east & out of it came skein after skein of geese. Since then I have seen pink-footed Geese in flight many thousands of times in all their winter haunts in Britain; I have followed them to their breeding ground in Iceland, I have assisted at the capture & ringing of more than 20,000 of them; & yet the thrill which I felt on that first moment is repeated again every time I see the great skeins stretched across the sky. The spell is as strong as ever."

Peter Scott gave up shooting; was an ardent conservationist.

"Wells was for long noted as ‘the’ haunt of geese on the Norfolk Coast up to 8,000 pink feet having wintered in the area for at least a hundred years prior to 1938. This habit was destroyed by various wartime measures, including artillery practice and the ploughing up of the grassland leys which provided feeding grounds. Since then Wells has largely been noted for its waders and the flock of up to 1,000 brent that winter on the tidal flats. A belt of pines is now part of a National Nature Reserve of free access. Across Pinewoods is a lake with an interesting reed bed. There is a path between the pines and lake which is excellent for migrants. At Holkham Gap (site of Shakespeare in Love!) the pine plantations stretch away along the dunes to east and west The right hand group is freely accessible, easy to work, and is backed by birch, elder, and bramble scrub that is attractive to small passerine migrants."

In Autumn & Winter, dawn & dusk are filled with the cries of hundreds of species of geese, ducks & waders; 20,000 pink feet & Brent geese from Iceland, wing noisily overhead in V’s of black stitching.  They roost on the salt & freshwater marshes; feed on local beet fields which has encouraged the pink feet back.  Redwings and fieldfares, colourful thrushes from Scandinavia and Russia pour into Britain in enormous numbers to escape the harder winter. Hordes are crossing the coast after a long flight across the North Sea.

Peter Scott said "Wells is the best place to see wild geese" and the Gooseye is right under their flight path (noise is like a kids playground in the sky!).

AUTUMN - migrants, goldcrest, rarities

WINTER - Brent goose, turnstone, bar tailed gowit, oystercatcher

See the Links page for various links to websites about birds and bird watching in the area.