Birdwatchers accused of ruffling shooters’ feathers

A group of birdwatchers has been accused of antagonising shooting parties as the row over wildfowling at Findhorn Bay intensifies. Earlier this week, it emerged that police had visited the Moray beauty spot and confiscated guns from hunters following reports that they were shooting from restricted land.

The Moray Council land had been designated off limits in an effort to strike a compromise between the shooters and protesters who are embroiled in a longstanding disupte about wildfowling at the bay.

But Martin Gauld, who launched the Support Findhorn Bay Wildfowlers campaign, has now called into question the peaceful nature of the protesters who are fighting to bring an end to hunting at the nature reserve.

He believes that the nature enthusiasts are cynically attempting to make life so unpleasant for visiting hunters that they choose never to come back.

Mr Gauld said: “There is a group whose sole purpose is to antagonise and disrupt the shooting parties.”

But last night, a wildlife campaigner dismissed Mr Gauld’s claims.

Claudia Dehio-Matheson said: “Our internet group is just to alert people as to what is going on at the bay.” Police were called to the beauty spot last October amid claims that wildfowlers had “intimidated” Mrs Matheson while she was birdwatching.

She said firearms were discharged over her head in such a way that pellets rained down on her.