In reply to magma:
Definitely not gulls - they tend to fly in loose Vs and the wings have a bend in them - these have very straight wings
But I'm struggling to suggest what they are - the most likely migratory possibilities are:
- Thrushes - Fieldfares and/or Redwings
- Waders - Golden or Grey Plovers or some other wader
But you need someone with experience of identifying from such views (not me) who'll just be able to tell straight off from the jizz, I just know it's not gulls.
Edit: been thinking, I can only recall having seen larger birds ever flying in Vs. This is done for aerodynamic efficiency (less effort) presumably by appropriate coordination of wingbeats + positioning. Smaller birds tend to fly in loose flocks like your picture, presumably faster wingbeats makes coordination much more difficult (if at all possible) so flying in Vs doesn't happen, and the flocking is done more to improve protection from predators.
Which means your birds are relatively small, but they really do seem to have quite long wings, probably turn out to be something unexpected like Meadow Pipits. However, having had a little look at photos on t'web, I'm thinking more likely to be plovers. Discarding thrushes because none in your photo are in a "closed wing missile" type shape which seems to crop up in thrush photos and you'd maybe expect one or two of your birds to have been caught in that position.
Post edited at 16:17