Welcome to the East of Scotland Association for Wildfowling and Conservation. Please use the links in the navigation bar above to move around our website.

The East of Scotland

The area covered by this club might more accurately be described as east-central and south-east Scotland. It encompasses the coastline from Montrose Basin south towards the English border and includes the major fowling grounds on the Tay, Eden and Forth estuaries. From the centre point of this coastline, every other location on it is within a drive of 60-90 minutes, i.e. well within the distance that a keen wildfowler will routinely travel for a morning or evening flight. It also contains areas that are very popular with visiting sportsmen from farther afield who will often visit for a weekend or, indeed, a longer period.

From the south, one of the prime fowling locations is Tyninghame Bay, the estuary of the River Tyne. This entire estuary is now part of the John Muir Country Park and is a local nature reserve (LNR) administered by East Lothian Council, There are some time restrictions in force here and Lothian residents get preference for wildfowling permits. Nevertheless, it is a fruitful area for wildfowlers who take the time to understand its moods.

Farther west on the south shore of the Forth is Aberlady Bay which is also restricted by a permit scheme and is totally inaccessible to non-residents. This LNR is, perhaps, the prime example of why wildfowlers must club together to fight any future attempts to restrict their traditional freedoms in such a way. Even the locals are barred from harvesting geese on the Bay.

Moving west from Aberlady there is a large section of coastline of the Forth where wildfowling is unrestricted until one reaches the city limits of Edinburgh. There are fowl to be had here but sensitivity to the local populace is required and the area is not well documented. It is definitely a region for sensitive personal exploration.

From Musselburgh to Silverknowes the coast is really too urbanised for wildfowling although, many years ago, a club member did have success shooting pochard and scaup (now protected)  from the Seafield sewage pipe! Cramond Island was once a popular wildfowling location but it is not until Blackness, in West Lothian, that the south shore of the Forth again picks up from a wildfowling point of view. Travel farther west and - avoiding the flares and smells of Grangemouth, one comes to the inner Forth estuary where there is good wildfowling to be had from Skinflats until the water ceases to be tidal just beyond Stirling. Car parking along this stretch can be a sensitive issue, so take care not to park on private land or to block field access gates.

Inner Forth Estuary at Alloa

If you cross the river at Stirling and head east again, then the entire north shore of the Forth estuary is unrestricted wildfowling apart from those areas where common sense dictates that it is too close to heavily populated areas. It is not so very long since an official Fife Council tourist leaflet pointed out that Dalgety Bay was a fine place to go fowling. Unfortunately it is now a huge dormitory town for Edinburgh.

Beyond the east Neuk of Fife is the fairly small Eden estuary which was mentioned several times in John Millais' classic book "The Wildfowler in Scotland".. The photograph at the foot of this page is of that estuary, looking north towards the RAF Leuchars aerodrome. Although this estuary is one of the prime examples of how wildfowlers have been shafted by local bureaucracy, it is still possible to enjoy relatively unrestricted fowling here under a permit scheme administered by Fife Council. However, wildfowlers will require to be extremely vigilant to  prevent any further erosions of their freedoms on this estuary. That is one of the many reasons for joining the East of Scotland Association for Wildfowling and Conservation.

Eden Estuary at Coble Point

Moving north, we come to the Tay estuary which, both in terms of size and of wildfowling importance, is second only to the Forth. Although the Tay is currently completely unrestricted in wildfowling terms, it is the area where, perhaps, the greatest dangers lurk. Some of the north shore is in the hands of the RSPB and any legislative changes could spell disaster there. There is also an LNR on the middle section, around Kingoodie, and while there are no byelaws restricting wildfowling, that is a situation that requires careful monitoring. Wildfowl levels on the Tay fluctuate markedly. Not so long ago there were great greylag goose flights in the Port Allen area but they have almost disappeared. Pinkfoot numbers in the middle Tay estuary vary greatly from year to year. A more encouraging sign is that the numbers of some duck, particularly goldeneye, seem to be increasing on the inner estuary.

North of the Tay, the Angus coastline holds some hotspots jealously guarded by locals but the best known public wildfowling area is Montrose Basin. Primarily renowned as a pinkfoot roost, this area was one of the first to be controlled by a permit scheme. Although it seemed to work reasonably well for some years, despite serious restrictions, there is perhaps now an acknowledgement that maybe wildfowlers gave up too much in their efforts to appease the protectionists and it will be of crucial importance to the future of wildfowling in that location to ensure that wildfowlers are willing and able to vigorously fight any attempt to impose further controls.

We have just given a very brief pen-picture of a significant stretch of Scottish foreshore. If you value the future of wildfowling in this area, join ESAWC now by clicking on the "Join Now" link at the top of the page. There are three categories of membership: Full Member, Junior Member and Supporter member.