Scarlet Tanager specimen

I was driving home from birding a couple mornings ago when a bright pip of scarlet caught my eyes along the side of the road.  What's a birder to do when they come across a specimen like that?  Well, if you're like me you make a U turn and stop on a bridge to pick it up.  In front of a cop no less.  He slowed and kept driving.

It hadn't been dead long and was still incredibly fresh.  The head and back was incredibly intensely red.

I've never been close enough to one to notice the very faint edge of green along the flight feathers (two of the median coverts are edged in red).  I think the red feather coming through is a lesser covert that grew in red instead of black

A zoom in on the notched edge of a tanager bill.

Some of the coloration of the flank was neon yellow rather than red.  I'm not sure if that's a sign it's a first spring bird or if this is pretty common but usually hidden.

Hopefully the next post will be of a very live blue bird rather than a dead red one.