Take a gander at Scotland this autumn

VisitScotland, Scotland's national tourist board is encouraging visitors to follow in the webbed-footsteps of the record breaking number of geese flocking to parts of Scotland this autumn.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust and the RSPB have both reported the highest number of geese ever recorded in Montrose Bay and the Inner Hebridean island of Islay. Around 65,000 Pink Footed Geese have arrived at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Montrose Basin (15,000 more than last year), while nearly 29,000 Barnacle Geese and Greenland White Fronted Geese have been spotted at the RSPB Loch Gruinart Nature Reserve on Islay.

Kathryn Macdonald, Product Manager at VisitScotland said: "We're delighted that so many geese are flocking to Scotland and we would encourage nature lovers across the country to go and see these spectacular gatherings at one of the dedicated RSPB, Scottish Wildlife Trust or Scottish Natural Heritage bird reserves. With so many places across the country to spot this natural phenomenon, this is a fantastic, accessible experience for visitors and locals alike."

Late autumn is one of the best times to see geese across Scotland, as hundreds of thousands of birds descend on the country for the winter months. The country is host to some of the biggest geese flocks in the UK, so there is no shortage of places to witness this, from Islay and the Aberdeenshire coast to the Montrose Basin or the Solway Firth.

James Reynolds, spokesperson for the RSPB said: "Every year hundreds of thousands of geese fly in from their northern and Arctic summer breeding grounds to spend the winter here in Scotland. This arrival en masse really does herald the fact that we are firmly into that wonderful Autumnal calendar event that the poet John Keats so memorably referred to as the season of "mist and mellow fruitfulness".

"With the sun slightly lower in the sky and casting long shadows, watching tens of thousands of geese rise in unison from a misty loch against this backdrop as the sun comes up at dawn is a truly bewitching spectacle, and surely one of the most exciting events that nature has to offer in the UK. It really does stop you in your tracks, raise an involuntary smile and make you say 'wow'!"

Some of the geese have flown more than 1,200 km (746 miles) from their breeding grounds and will now spend the winter in Scotland. They leave Scotland around March or April, when they return to their northern and Artic breeding grounds.

Anyone visiting Montrose Basin can observe this amazing site from the Scottish Wildlife Trust visitor centre observation window. Visitors to the RSPB Loch Gruinart Nature Reserve can take part in weekly guided walks to catch a glimpse of the geese, alongside redwings and fieldfares and thousands of ducks.

At the Loch Leven National Nature Reserve in Perthshire, Scottish Natural Heritage will be hosting a dawn watch this weekend for people to witness one of the loch's greatest wildlife spectacles. With the dawn, around 20,000 pink-footed geese will rise from their night-time roosts on the loch shore, providing a dramatic scene for spectators. The free event takes place on Sunday, 24 October from 7am to 9am, meeting at Kirkgate Park.

Visiting geese can be seen at nature reserves across Scotland. For more information or to plan an autumn break in Scotland go to: visitscotland.com/autumngold