The Meaning of Geese: A Thousand Miles in Search of Home

by Nick Acheson

The Meaning of Geese is a book of thrilling encounters with wildlife, of tired legs, punctured tyres and inhospitable weather. Above all, it is the story of Nick Acheson’s love for the land in which he was born and raised, and for the wild geese that fill it with sound and spectacle every winter.

Renowned naturalist and conservationist Nick Acheson spent countless hours observing and researching wild geese, transported through all weathers by his mother’s 40-year-old trusty red bicycle. He meticulously details the geese’s arrival, observing what they mean to his beloved Norfolk and the role they play in local people’s lives – and what role the birds could play in our changing world.

During a time when many people faced the prospect of little work or human contact, Nick followed the pinkfeet and brent geese that filled the Norfolk skies and landscape as they flew in from Iceland and Siberia. In their flocks, Nick encountered rarer geese, including Russian white-fronts, barnacle geese and an extremely unusual grey-bellied brant, a bird he had dreamt of seeing since thumbing his mother’s copy of Peter Scott’s field guide as a child.

To honour the geese’s great athletic migrations, Nick kept a diary of his sightings as well as the stories he discovered through the community of people, past and present, who loved them, too. Over seven months Nick cycles over 1,200 miles – the exact length of the pinkfeet’s migration to Iceland.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Memoir, Natural History, Animals, Birds, Wildlife

240 pages, Hardcover

Published February 9, 2023

Reviews

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

East Anglian Book Awards - Overall winner

The book opens with an excellent prologue – about the “edgeless place, of land and sea and sky all seeping into one another” which is the Coast of Norfolk - which includes evocative paragraphs on each of: The Wash; the Saltmarshes from Holme to Kelling and around Breydon Water; the Dunes – including the shingle at Cley and Salthouse; Norfolk’s “northeast shoulder” from Weybourne to Happisburgh; the Broads; and finally the Grazing Marsh near the north Coast (typically reclaimed from the sea) and the Broads. It then gives an overview of the main Winter Geese that visit these regions and explains how the author, admirably, gave up a prestigious career doing global eco-tours due to their Carbon footprint and returned to his birth area of North Norfolk to work in conservation.

He then explains how during COVID he decided to follow Norfolk’s geese on his bike over the 2020-2021 winter. The resulting diary of his trips and observations is what we read.

I have to be honest that I preferred the Prologue and the promise of what I was going to read to the actual experience of reading it – I think it is too detailed and specific for a general reader and really designed to be read by the bird-enthusiast but nevertheless this is written with care and quiet passion and will I think form a valuable reference for winters in North Norfolk,

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw Nick Acheson speak at New Networks for Nature 2021 as the ‘anti-’ voice in a debate on ecotourism. He was a wildlife guide in South America and Africa for more than a decade before, waking up to the enormity of the climate crisis, he vowed never to fly again. Now he mostly stays close to home in North Norfolk, where he grew up and where generations of his family have lived and farmed, working for Norfolk Wildlife Trust and appreciating the flora and fauna on his doorstep.

This was indeed to be a low-carbon initiative, undertaken on his mother’s 40-year-old red bicycle and spanning September 2021 to the start of the following spring. Whether on his own or with friends and experts, and in fair weather or foul, he became obsessed with spending as much time observing geese as he could – even six hours at a stretch. Pink-footed geese descend on the Holkham Estate in their thousands, but there were smaller flocks and rarer types as well: from Canada and greylag to white-fronted and snow geese. He also found perspective (historical, ethical and geographical) by way of Peter Scott’s conservation efforts, chats with hunters, and insight from the Icelandic researchers who watch the geese later in the year, after they leave the UK.

The germane context is woven into a month-by-month diary. The Covid-19 lockdowns spawned a number of nature books in the UK and, although the pandemic is not a major element here, one does get a sense of how Acheson struggled with isolation as well as the normal winter blues and found comfort and purpose in birdwatching.

Tundra bean, taiga bean, brent … I don’t think I’ve seen any of these species – not even pinkfeet, to my recollection – so wished for black-and-white drawings or colour photographs in the book. That’s not to say that Acheson is not successful at painting word pictures of geese; his rich descriptions, full of food-related and sartorial metaphors, are proof of how much he revels in the company of birds. But I suspect this is a book more for birders than for casual nature-watchers like myself. I would have welcomed more autobiographical material, and Wintering by Stephen Rutt seems the more suitable geese book for laymen. Still, I admire Acheson’s fervour: “I watch birds not to add them to a list of species seen; nor to sneer at birds which are not truly wild. I watch them because they are magnificent”.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Alan Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved the winter geese in Norfolk and I feel like I'll know them a bit better next time they come and join us from the north. Nick writes with sincerity about the loss and loneliness of the pandemic and the solace in nature many of us took during this time. He also handled his conversations with wild-fowlers during the course of the book with far more grace than I would have managed, despite his deep compassion for their targets. Well worth a read.

[Fern A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Acheson worked in South America and touring the world in conservationist and nature related work. Having decided to give up flying for environmental reasons and returning to the U.K. he found himself becoming fascinated by and studying geese. As the Covid lockdowns started, like so many people, his relationship with nature further changed and as everybody became isolated he explored the countryside looking for and learning about geese.

I enjoyed this book, it was a real mix of memoir, nature study and also literature reviews too. Mainly written as a diary of Acheson’s daily discoveries and sightings during 2020-2021 this format worked really well. I learned a lot of information (Egyptian geese it turns out aren’t really geese and the Slimbridge bird sanctuary in England is responsible for Hawaiian geese not becoming extinct) as well as being horrified at the dangers of lead pellets, shooting practices and difficulties geese face. While mainly fact and information focused there are some beautifully written lines throughout this and it’s a book that’s easy to read through in just a couple of sittings.

Next time I see geese fly over I will definitely be viewing them with more insight and interest.

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stuart Moodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book about what a naturalist did during lockdown, this time observing geese in a small area of Norfolk . And as with others I've read I started thinking that could this really keep me interested for a whole book? But it did. The detail of different species and their behaviour is interesting. I'm not sure I was quite as captivated as the author and I did enjoy the parts when he was looking at other species, but generally I would recommend.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable read with beautiful and evocative writing. Very much enjoyed feeling immersed in the north Norfolk countryside, I only wish my knowledge and memory came anywhere close to the author’s. For that reason, I think some illustrations of the species described in the book, and perhaps a rough local map would have been a nice addition.

[Imogen Lunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love geese ❤️🪿

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this!!! Nature, birdwatching, Norfolk - it's right up my street. I saw Nick chairing a discussion at the Gathering Festival at Wild Ken Hill last year, and when I saw he had his first book coming out I was desperate to read it. The lovely people at Chelsea Green Publishing sent me an advanced copy and I've been savouring it over the past few weeks.

Nick's writing is just about as gorgeous as the cover design (look at it!!!). His passion for the wild geese of Norfolk and the people that share their spaces shines through each page. There is compassion, admiration and unsurprisingly some concern for their future, touching on various threats facing our geese (& are they "our" geese....?!) as he cycles 1200+ miles around Norfolk over several months, tracking down and watching geese. It's a pure love letter to the birds, and to this beautiful region that they call home for part of the year.

Next time I'm birdwatching in Norfolk, I'll be looking a little more closely at the various species of geese, and wondering where they've been, and where they're going. It's impossible to read this book and not want to step further into their world. Even if it can be a slightly raucous one...

[Eddie Hillion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decided to read this after going to a book promotion/charity evening with Nick talking about his journey to writing this book. You can't help but pay attention as Nick is clearly an entertaining speaker and passionate about wildlife.
Only four stars as I have to admit I found it a bit hard going as I realised I can obviously only take just so many Geese stories 😂.
The main thing I'm taking away is that I was ignorant of what 'Wildfowlers' are.
I was so pleased to read that Peter Scott gave up the persute due to the concern and realisation the some birds were being injured and left to die a horrible death.
If you get the chance to hear Nick speak in public, don't miss the opportunity, throughly entertaining!

[Jane Watkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful memoir of Nick’s time spent following the geese which migrate to his beloved Norfolk every winter. Spanning the pandemic’s several lockdowns, he cycled 1000 miles to watch pinkfeet, greylags, barnacles and other migratory geese - it took him many months, but pinkfooted geese travel that distance from Iceland to the UK in one day.
His writing is lyrical, witty, extremely well-informed and endearing. His love of nature shines through, but he does not dodge the tricky issues of how climate change, and changing farming practices are threatening these birds. What he has to say about wildfowlers changed my opinion.
Well written and engaging. I look forward to reading his next book.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book. For parts I listened to the audio book and really enjoyed how Nick read. Mostly I read a hardback library book and got lost in his descriptions of geese, the people from his life and his story. My experience of the book was enhanced as I read it in the lead up to and during a weekend stay on the North Norfolk coast in January. Unfortunately my only encounter with geese was a clan of Brent's flying over at dusk, but it romanticised my time away. I whole heartedly recommend this to nature lovers and look forward to revisiting this book again.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great to read about local places. I wonder how it would feel if you didn't know the area.
He has worked hard at the writing and it is good.
The information about birds and plants and animals is fascinating.
It is good to be made aware of how interlinked we are across the globe by migration and also by the internet so that geese experts can easily talk to one another. The them odf communities versus covid isolation comes across well.

[Neal Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the last 20 years or so, we have visited North Norfolk in winter to satisfy our birding needs, alas during the last 3/4 years due to Covid and other factors we have only visited in the spring.

Nick has through his knowledge, passion and detailed descriptions put a winter visit firmly back onto the agenda. I enjoyed every line of his writing, I felt that Norfolk cold along those narrow roads and the tremendous feeling when watching geese whiffling at Holkham.

A beautifully crafted journey and for any lover of the natural world this should be high on the to be read list. I'm hoping that we have further delights in writing to come.

[Maggie Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in various locations in North Norfolk while observing the arrival of geese from Iceland in late September. Beautifully and carefully written, the book describes landscape, wildlife and our connection to nature. Highly recommend if you like geese!

[Janet Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book but would have greatly benefitted from illustrations of the different types of geese the author followed. Perhaps some of the paintings by James McCallum mentioned in the book.

[Mr K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. One man and his passion. The world needs more people like Nick!