It’s a moment for which the word “goosebumps” might well have been coined.
All had been calm as the sun set over Montrose Basin, with the cold autumn sky glowing pink as darkness edged in.
Then at approximately 6.35pm began the sound of around 80,000 geese coming home to roost.
They arrived from the east, from the north and from the south in fast flowing skeins of 50, 100, 200 and more in one of nature’s grandest displays.
The honking of the migrating birds is so familiar to this town. To some it signals an unwelcome return of winter but to others, it is nature’s most glorious reminder of the turning of the year.
Emma Castle-Smith assistant manager at Montrose Basin Local Nature Reserve said “We get ridiculously excited here when the geese come.
“It is such a nice way to recognise the change of seasons.
“Their arrival was perfectly timed with the swallows leaving.
“I can’t think of a better way of celebrating autumn.”
Montrose Basin has this year welcomed 78,970 pink footed geese – a record breaking number – from Greenland and Iceland.
Ms Castle-Smith said the birds were attracted by ample foods in the surrounding fields, and the safety of the Basin, where the water remains low and mudflats exposed even at high tide.
She said: “There is a lot of food in the surrounding area.
“During the day, they go out into the fields. Especially with all the potatoes just being taken up, there is lots for them to eat in the stubble.
“The basin is also a safe place for them to rest. It is an enormous environment for them.
“The fact that you can have 78,970 geese there at one time without any problem is really quite incredible.”