My goal for our visit to France was to photograph a Golden Oriole. These birds are (apparently) easier to spot in France – and here you go: goal achieved. Not a perfect photo, and it is a juvenile rather than a male in all its yellow magnificence, but I am still very happy to share it. It was, as usual, a bit of a coincidence: we heard some noise at first, which we thought was a cat fighting with something, but another bird was singing nearby, so I opened the Merlin app and boom – the “cat in trouble” was in fact a Golden Oriole it if you do not believe me). After seeing it on the screen, I put on all my gear despite the 38-degree heat and headed out to snap it. Next goal: Bluethroat – as they say, stay tuned.

Golden Oriole (juvenile)
Shutter Speed | 400 sec |
Aperture | f/7.1 |
Focal Length | 600mm |
ISO | 2200 |
Date | 12/08/2025 |
Time | 19:20 |
Location | Lorgue, Provence, France |
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