There was a massive displacement of geese in North Norfolk in last night's fog (January 10th/11th). I heard a few Pinkfeet flying over our house on the Briston/Melton Constable border (about ten miles from the North Norfolk coast) at 5.45 pm when my wife returned from work. This was nothing unusual, but the birds were a bit late as it had already been dark for an hour.
As the evening progressed, the fog thickened, with visibility down to about 30 yards. We could hear geese over the house all the time, getting lower and lower, down to almost rooftop level. Peak numbers were between 8-9pm. At 11pm, the geese were still circling, and calling madly as they tried to find a flock on the ground.
Other species got tied up in this disorientation too, with a couple of Brent Geese also recorded (second record in 13 years) and a lone Barnacle Goose yapping away, a most unexpected garden tick. OK, so it was probably a feral bird from Holkham Hall, (15 miles away) but who's counting.
Birds were still calling at 1, 2 and 3am. By 5am, the fog had thickened so much that visibility was down to about ten yards. The geese had seemingly moved on, with just one solitary Pinkfoot still in the area. Whether they were the same geese circling all night, or a steady throughput of new geese arriving it’s impossible to say, though I suspect the former. By 7am, the fog had lifted but even then, there were still a few geese 'wink-winking' overhead, over 13 hours after they had started calling.
From information received so far, this displacement was noted from Fakenham, through Briston to Corpusty, a distance of about 13 miles. It was also noted at Thornage though I suspect that the fog went all the way down to the coast as the geese were unable to escape its clutches.
This gives a tentative fog blanket of about 130 square miles but it could easily be two or three times this. I would be grateful if anyone could extend this range with their own observations.
Thanks in advance.
Gordon