I have lived in Maryland all my life. I spent the first 26 years in the eastern half and the past 26 in the western half. On Easter morning I saw my first Scarlet Tanager. That was a pretty sight. I thought to myself it was just another Cardinal but the black wings gave it away. I saw a grouping of about 15 Blue Birds on the way to Church and a Scarlet Tanager on the way home. We are heading back to the Eastern Shore to visit with Family I hope my good luck continues. Happy Easter

We took a ride on the boat out of Annapolis and I saw many nesting Osprey on the channel markers

Hey, BoxofRain, I lived in D.C. for almost 15 years until just making the move to the cabin off the Echo Trail. Scarlet Tanagers are awesome. They're hard to see because they like to be in the tree tops. I learned from experience that the best way to find them is to recognize their call. Their song is kind of like a Robin's, and so I don't always recognize it when I hear it. But the call is pretty distinctive. It's like CHICK-BURRR in kind of a low throaty voice. (You can find recordings on the web.) When you hear it, scan the tree tops, and eventually you should find your Tanager.

Thanks Ho Ho. Being you are from this area, you will find this story interesting. We have a Wild Bird Store in Annapolis that sells all kinds of things and I told the proprietor the story of the Tanager and she showed me a picture of a male Painted Bunting that over wintered near her home in Arnold, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. She said it was only the one and would frequent her feeder from September 2010 until March 2011 and has since flown the coup so to speak. As a Kid I can remember leafing through the different Bird books and seeing the Painted Bunting and thinking it looked like Rainbow Sherbet, always thinking I would love to see one. There has been one near my backyard and I missed it!

Do you ever look at the DC area Rare Bird Alerts? Click here for link. This way you won't miss the next Painted Bunting (or something similar).

BTW, they have Painted Buntings down where my sister lives in Texas and she was pointing one out to me but I never saw it. I agree that they look like Rainbow Sherbet, at least in the books.