Birds that murmurate - not starlings?

[fatsatsuma]

No idea which topic to post this in!

My garden backs onto open fields - arable farmland. A flock of birds has been murmurating the last few mornings - such a beautiful mesmerising sight. I don't think they are starlings - when the sun catches them they are much paler. I can't see them clearly enough to describe them. Any idea what they could be? I'm central southern England if that helps.

Starlings have much lighter winter plumage, it's basically brown with lots of white speckles rather than the metallic sheen dark blue of summer, they can look even lighter if the sun is shining on them.

Thank you Wbeezer - maybe they are starlings after all. Wish I had stronger binoculars and could see them properly!

I don't think many others fly in the big clusters like starlings do. It's probably starlings.

I saw some on Springwatch. They weren't starlings but I cannot remember what they were. Maybe Dunlin? We have these in the fields near me.

Thank you. One of thing things that made me think they maybe aren't starlings is that it's not a huge flock - not as large as a typical starling murmuration.

WowOoo, I wonder what bird you saw

Wading birds can often be seen in fields and if spooked go up as one big flock as do small birds like goldfinches, if you are seeing a pale edge it could be golden plover perhaps. Worth investing in binoculars if you can afford around £100 for a decent pair. Beutiful sight though even without binoculars.

I see birds doing this over fields near me - I think they are field fares? Very beautiful

I saw a murmuration in Dorset a few weeks ago. Lucky OP to see them regularly.

Can you film them on your smartphone? You could zoom in as far you can and then enlarge the image on your laptop to get a better chance of identifying them. I have done that with flowers when I want to id something far away and it's surprising how much you can zoom in on a photo on a smartphone (mine's a really shit basic Nokia/Tesco thing too, not like dd's iPhone which is even better at this).

I think Finches might do this in small groups, but having said that I am no expert. Love a murmuration.

How large are the birds? And are you anywhere near the sea, or wetlands? From your description it sounds like it could be dunlin, knot, or some kind of plover. Do they look white when they turn, or just “lighter”?

They sound very much like golden plover - beautiful birds.