River Nairn going back ‘to nature’ following death of swan man Joe

By Donna MacAllister

January 7 2023, 6:00 am

Joe Telfer was known as the 'swan man' of Nairn for feeding the wildlife on the town's river, but he died in 2022. Image: Andrew Smith.

The River Nairn is being returned to ‘a more natural state’ after a kind-hearted resident spent the best part of two decades trying to turn it into a haven for ducks and swans.

Joe Telfer hand-fed the local birds bags of grain every day in cold weather, remodelled the area to create protective nesting banks, put up signs declaring the stretch a wildlife area, and wrote a blog about their antics.

The ducks Joe cared for gather around one of the wildlife zone signs he put up around the River Nairn. Image: Donna MacAllister.

Scores of people paid into the trust that he set up to foot the birds’ vet bills, but he was a dab hand at bandaging-up their crooked wings and would rear the rejected ones in a paddling pool in his back garden.

But four months after he sadly died soon after collapsing just a few footsteps away from his beloved river, Joe’s trust is being wound down.

‘Joe’s shoes too big to fill’

Joe believed humans have a duty to care and protect wildlife. Image: Donna MacAllister.

Martin Shand, chairman of the Joe’s River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust, said it felt like the right thing to do.

He said: “We’re just letting Joe’s activities wind down.

“Nobody has quite the same vigour for pursuing this as Joe.

“I have spoken to a lot of people and the general consensus is it’s best now to allow the river to return to a more natural state.”

The £700 left in the trust’s coffers is being spent on a giant round of bird food, which will be stored, potentially in a grit box by the riverside, for anyone to scatter in Joe’s memory.

‘Too many birds now on River Nairn’

Trust chairman says Joe’s heart was in the right place but the river can’t support the birdlife. Image: Donna MacAllister

Martin said the general feeling is that the number of birds on the river is currently unsustainable.

He added: “To be fair to Joe, his intentions were good.

“But he turned it into a zoo. It got out of hand.

“We wouldn’t have the population of ducks on it without his intervention, and, just as we thought, the swans have flown away, now that no one is feeding them.”

Joe video: ‘Hope someone will take my place when I’m gone’

Joe, who was described as a “marmite” character in his obituary, would be inclined to speak to the press from time to time and said in an interview several years ago he hoped that he would leave a legacy.

Here is one of the last times we spoke to him.