Autumn is always an exciting time of year in the world of birds, with migration in full swing as birds both depart and arrive in the UK. This usually means birds veering off course or stopping here before travelling on and can mean some relatively rare birds touching down locally. Such an event occurred last week, with a Grey Phalarope taking up temporary residence at nearby Farmoor Reservoir. Having recently upgraded my camera to the Nikon Z8, I was keen to take advantage of this typically confiding species and put the Z8 to work so made a rushed visit after work despite some unfavourable weather. It didn't take long to locate the bird thanks to a small huddle of birders along the causeway.

As I got close to them, it turned out most of them were departing and I soon had a the causeway to myself, though this wasn't surprising given the strong wind and rain that had just started. Not to be perturbed, I hurdled the main wall and made my way down the waters edge, further down from where the phalarope was feeding, lying down in wait. As is often the case, my low profile resulted in this incredibly small shorebird to carry on about it's business without noticing me (and if I did, it didn't let on!) and I began shooting away. Whilst the bird proved an exceptional subject, my experimentation with settings and the poor light meant I left with very few keepers, but I had a fantastic time enjoying watching this enigmatic visitor and left with lots of valuable lessons learned, planning a return subject the the phalarope hanging around until I could come back...

Thankfully, come Thursday afternoon, the bird was still being reported and in the usual spot, so I managed an early finish and was a lot more hopeful of some better images thanks to the above lessons that I'd learnt and some much better weather.

I again found the bird quickly and the causeway was a lot quieter. I performed my usual hurdling antics before setting up 'down-stream'. It didn't take long before I had the phalarope bobbing away in front of me as it made a quick approach towards me. The Nikon Z8 is renowned for it's auto-focus capability and with 20 frames a second to play with, I had much higher hopes given I'd updated my settings and got a much better feel for the controls. Sure enough, my initial efforts this time around were so much better and I had some really pleasing images right from the off. I spent a good hour rinsing and repeating my approach and the phalarope continued feeding busily along the water's edge without a care in the world, with having to battle some very choppy conditions, as illustrated by these images.

Grey Phalarope There were moments where things calmed slightly, making for some softer images and allowing some fantastic views of the plumage as well as the opportunity to get some tighter portraits. I do love a good close-up as it allows us to see so much detail that is otherwise barely visible to the naked eye.

Grey Phalarope Grey Phalarope

Grey PhalaropeA Grey Phalarope swimming and feeding Grey PhalaropeA Grey Phalarope swimming and feeding Grey PhalaropeA Grey Phalarope swimming and feeding Grey PhalaropeA Grey Phalarope swimming and feeding

Grey Phalarope A nice bonus of this trip was having one of my images awarded Photo of the Week on Birdguides, as well as notable for a Little Owl image. Always nice to have some recognition but the that aside, I am loving my photography once more and really hope to get out again soon. The Z8 is already proving to be an absolute gamechanger, allowing me to capture some super cool moments that I'd never have been able to get before.