This beautiful vagrant from Europe spent four days in northern Maryland frequenting the farmlands near Creagerstown and entertaining birders from several states.  These pictures were taken on the morning of the 15th, which, as of this writing, was the last day it was seen in the area.  There is an abundance of habitat around Creagerstown, so it could still be nearby in MD, but it may have left the area for good, too, which is rather exciting for listers north of the Mason-Dixon Line, since the next stop on its journey is likely to fall somewhere within the Commonwealth of PA!

 

Although the bird was very calm and allowed outstanding scope views for over two hours on the morning of the 15th, it generally did not approach the road we were watching it from any closer than about 150 feet, except in the very early morning when it was very close to the road but still a little too dark out to expect a good picture.  So while I am glad I got the pictures I did, they aren't as good as some of the others out there.  Check out http://www.mdbirds.org/ for the latest and greatest.