A Golden Oriole at Aith in Shetland 3rd October 2024

A report of a Rosy Starling yesterday, associating with its commoner cousins in a berry hedge at Aith and subsequently in surrounding fields, found us heading northwards once more this morning. It was another sunny day but the strong wind made it feel a wee bit raw.

This was very much a speculative trip as the starling could now be anywhere in the coastal village of Aith. As we arrived much more sensational news arrived via the Shetland Scarce Bird News WhatsApp as it informed us that a Golden Oriole had recently been seen in trees by the Charity Shop in Aith. How convenient that we were at that very moment approaching Aith and we soon found the Charity Shop and somewhere to park right beside it.

All thoughts of the Rosy Starling were promptly abandoned as neither of us had ever seen a Golden Oriole on Shetland and in Autumn they are a very rare bird and only marginally less uncommon in Spring. In fact it has been a very long while since I have seen a Golden Oriole in Britain, the last was when they used to breed at Lakenheath  in Suffolk, more years ago than I can remember.

An additional incentive to catch up with this bird, if one were needed, was the fact we had dipped one, possibly this very same individual, yesterday in a conifer plantation at the Loch of Brouster, near Walls, the bird having flown off strongly to the east just ten minutes before we got to the plantation.

There was no sign of the bird at Aith when we arrived so we split up to cover those parts of Aith that looked to have suitable trees. I met another birder who told me that about thirty minutes ago he had seen it fly from the garden of a house with large sycamores that was just down the road from the Charity Shop  and it looked to have landed in a row of willows near to the local school a few hundred metres away. I wandered over to the willows but there was no sign of the oriole or even the Rosy Starling for that matter.

The news of the oriole naturally brought other birders to Aith too and after some forty minutes of fruitless searching it was discovered back in the garden of  the house it had originally flown from, feeding in the sycamores that surrounded it. Around twenty birders gathered at the gate of the house and scrutinised the driveway and its line of sycamore trees. The oriole was a nightmare to locate in the leaves of the large trees, its colouring matching to perfection the faded greens and yellows of the dead and dying leaves and to add to our misery the constant movement of the leaves, stirred by the strong wind effectively masked any movement of the oriole.

Various cries of I can see it or There it is inevitably came too late to be of use as the bird effectively hid itself in the tree it was occupying

Frustration levels began to rise

For quite a while all I could detect was the fleeting silhouette of the bird before it was lost amongst the leaves again. We moved to the side of the house where a small cul de sac granted us a different aspect into the garden.

It was a tight squeeze and there were more birders than room so it was far from comfortable viewing.The oriole moved from tree to tree but persistently contrived to remain either invisible or viewable for a few seconds only.

Eventually it showed itself to some for a little longer but I was in the wrong place and failed to see it. More frustration and no little despair! Then suddenly and thrillingly I saw it clearly in the top of a sycamore, peering around searching for prey. It was for moments only but enough to see its greenish yellow upperparts, dark wings and white, dark streaked breast. 

Judging by its plumage I think this bird is a first year male

Many birders having seen the oriole were satisfied with their views of it and departed and hey presto with less of a crowd.the oriole showed itself more frequently.Occasionally it made sorties out of the garden to cross the road to trees in other gardens but always gravitated back to this one particular garden where the trees were tallest and leaves thickest.

Then the oriole seemed to disappear and after a long period of absence everyone left to look for the Rosy Starling which had been re-found on a nearby rooftop.

Mark and myself hung on and as we suspected the oriole was still in the sycamores and with only the two of us looking for it eventually showed itself once more and to better effect.

We got our photographs and satisfied we too headed off to look for the starling. Needless to say there was no sign of it on any rooftop but I noticed that there were many Common Starlings congregating in the Community Woodland at the back of the school and walking through the wood came out on the other side to find the Rosy Starling feeding with its cousins in a field full of sheep,The views although distant were adequate.

I called Mark to inform him of my find and he joined me and so a nice double was achieved in Aith but something much, much better, was to come

to be continued