Seasonal Report Archive for The Loon - Jaegers Occurrence
This is the 1930 to present seasonal report archive for
The Loon, journal of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
The last 2 years are available to MOU members.
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Seasons
Species: Jaegers
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
[Stercorarius jaeger]

Parasitic Jaeger(Stercorarius parasiticus)
YearSeasonNS
1961SummerBrother Theodore saw one adult sitting in the sand on Minnesota Point on 30 August. He approached within 12 feet of the bird. Again on 2 September, other members of the Avifaunal Club visited the area. We saw three Jaegers fly over the recreation area. Shortly thereafter we saw them sitting on Lake Superior near the small lighthouse at the end of the point. They then arose to harass a gull. TERNS:
1961FallThree were seen at Duluth by Avifaunal Club members on 2 Sep. Not seen 9 Sep. Close looks at the amount of white in the primaries made the identification fairly certain.
1965Fall9/16, 9/18 Warroad, 1, PEB, JLR, et al.
1968Fall9-7 Duluth JCG; 9-17 St. Louis FNIMAS. Four observers saw this last bird on Vermillion Road near Duluth, FN, Gus Nubel, Ruth Ackley, Cleo Atkisson, at height just above the telephone wires.
1969Summer6-1 Duluth, 1 immature found in desiccated condition JJG.
1970FallAll Reports: 9/19 New Brighton, Ramsey Co., RG.
1975Fall8-28 Freeborn Lake Freeborn county RJ; 9-7 Knife River Cook county N. Sundquist; 9-20 Duluth BL, H. Huber et al.
1976Fall Major invasion at Duluth from 8-5 to 9-25, many observers (fide DS).
1977Fall 9/17 and 9/18 Duluth 1 adult seen by many observers, 1 imm. seen by PE and D. Ruhme, 9/25 Duluth 1 adult (LJF).
1979Fall St. Louis 9-18 fide KE (sp?), 9-20 fide KE.
1980Fall 8-30 Crow Wing RBA, 9-1 Aitkin TS, 9-13 Duluth BDC, 9-14 OJ, DB, 10-10 T. Sordall, 10-15 KE, SM, 10-18, 19 KE (1 dk. phase):
1981Spring 5-23 Duluth, D. Hojnacki fide KE.
1981Fall All reports: Duluth 8-27, 9-3 KE, TL (1), 9-13 KE, JB, OJ (1), 9-26, 27 KE (1), 10-9 TL.
1982Fall 8/3 to 8/27 Duluth (one imm.) M.ob.
1983Summer Two, 6/2 Duluth (KRE).
1983Fall 9/17 and 9/18 Stoney Point, St. Louis Co. (one It. phase ad.) JEB, M.ob. (The Loon 55: 182), 10/15 Park Point, Duluth (one It. phase ad.) P. Egeland. Jaeger sp.? 9/4 Grand Marais, Cook Co. (2) H. Tucker (The Loon 55: 176), 9/16 and 9/17 Park Point, Duluth (5) M.ob., 10/2 Itasca St. Pk., Clearwater Co. (I) B. A. Fall (The Loon 55:181-182), 10/15 and 10/19 Canal Park, Duluth (2) KE.
1986Fall 8/2 (I ad., D. Johnson)- 9/26 Duluth (max. 4 on 9/11) m.ob. Jaeger, sp. 8/20 and 9/10 Duluth (2) KE.
1987Fall 8/27- 10/27 (max. 6) Duluth m.ob.; only report.
1988Fall All reports: 9/4-10/8 Duluth (max. 4) m.ob.
1989Fall All reports: 9/30 Duluth (I) BL, DS, 10/14-22 Duluth (max. 3) mob.
1990Spring Only report: 5/26 Duluth PB, KE (The Loon 62:163-164).
1990Fall 9/2 Duluth (I) PS.
1991Fall All reports: 9/5 St. Louis (one adult, one imm.) PS, 9/14 St. Louis (adult) KR, 9/5 - 10/28 St. Louis (fide KE).
1992Fall One report: 9/7 St. Louis MH.
1993Spring One report: 5/24–31 St. Louis KE.
1993Fall All reports: 9/8, 18, 25 St. Louis KE, BL.
1994Fall Numbers up from 1993; 9/10–10/15 St. Louis mob, peak 9/20 St. Louis (4) PS.
1995Fall All reports: 9/23 St. Louis (2 adult light-morphs) BL, 10/2 St. Louis (1) MH, 10/14 St. Louis (1) JHe.
1996Spring Only report: 5/26 St. Louis (adult light morph) DBe.
1996Fall Two Duluth reports 9/21 (adult) JWe, 9/28 (two adults) mob.
1997Summer Adult light-morph bird observed on 6/2 at Duluth in St. Louis Co. fide KE; this is only the third summer record (the first since 1983) for this species.
1997Fall All reports: 9/1, 9/7 (dark-morph), 9/16 Duluth, St. Louis Co. fide KE. Unidentified jaegers reported 10/5, 10/12 Duluth mob.
1998Spring Many reports of one or two adult light-morph jaegers, all from St. Louis and presumably referring to the same individuals: 5/16 (Park Point) FN, 5/23 (Park Point) DN, 5/24 (Brighton Beach) TN and (Park Point) PS, 5/29 (Park Point) AH, PS, 5/30 (jaeger, sp?) mob. Two jaegers were reported off Wisconsin Point during this same time by Wisconsin birders.
1998Fall All Duluth reports: 9/7–28 (at least two adult light-morphs plus one jaeger, sp?) mob, 10/16 (adult intermediate morph) FN et al., 10/20 (age?) fide KE. Minimum of three and more likely four or more individuals for the season. Most unusual was an unidentified jaeger harassing thousands of Bonaparte's Gulls on Lower Red Lake, Beltrami Co. in late August (The Loon 70:243).
1999Fall All reports: 9/19 St. Louis (two Parasitics plus one unidentified off Park Point in Duluth) mob, 10/17 Lake (adult light morph in Two Harbors) fide KE, 10/20–21 St. Louis (adult light morph in Duluth) SDM, †PS, †KE. The latter two reports probably refer to the same individual. Many observers reported an immature jaeger 11/14–22 Cook (Grand Marais) as a Parasitic, but no documentation was submitted. This would be record late for a Parasitic but prime time for a Pomarine.
2000Spring No reports.
2000Fall All were on L. Superior in St. Louis County as expected: 8/31, 9/3 (adult light morph) †KJB, KRE; 9/3–4 (dark juvenile off Brighton Beach) †KRE, PME, possibly relocated 9/9 (Park Point) †AXH, AMH; and 9/23 (adult light morph) mob.
2001Fall More reports than usual from St. Louis County, especially at the Superior Entry where three Parasitics arrived 9/7 (SP). Sorting ages and morphs resulted in seasonal total of five to eight Parasitics (four adults) at Duluth, plus unidentified jaegers (see below). No Parasitics identified after 9/30.
2002Spring No reports.
2002Fall Scarce. One or two light-morph adults reported at or near the Superior Entry, 9/21–28 St. Louis m.obs.
2003Spring Adult light morph flew over astonished hawk watchers at the Thompson Hill lookout and continued southwest 5/16 (ties earliest date) St. Louis (W.S.H.C.) ph. FJN, DAG, JP.
2003Fall Adult light morph (plus one unidentified) 9/28 St. Louis m.obs., dark morph (age?) 10/4–9 St. Louis RMD, MH.
2004Fall Documented at Park Point, Duluth 9/10 (juvenile dark morph and adult light morph) †MTA, 9/23 (fide MH), 9/26–27 (adult light morph) †MTA, †PHS et al.
2005Spring Exceptional spring report 5/21–23 St. Louis (adult light morph with tail streamers, plus two light morphs lacking elongated central rectrices) ph. †JWL, †PHS. Record-high spring count.
2005Fall Juvenile hit by car 9/7 Chisago (Lindstrom) ph. TV (The Loon 78:116–117). All other reports from St. Louis: 9/9 (two juveniles) MTA, 9/19 (adult light morph) JPM, CMB, 9/25 (adult light morph with tail streamers being chased by smaller jaeger) m.ob.
2006Fall One of the best jaeger migrations ever witnessed on western Lake Superior. Ten or more individuals were carefully identified between 9/9 (when two adult and one unaged light-morph Parasitic Jaegers were videotaped several miles off shore during a boat trip) MLH, DWK, ADS et al. and 10/3 (when this species was last seen); the other seven identified as Parasitics included three adult light morphs, two light subadults, one juvenile dark morph, and one juvenile intermediate morph. Also note that at least five additional jaegers not identified to species were present during this time. Flocks of 5 Parasitics were observed 9/23 JWH and 10/1 PHS. Good numbers were also seen off Wisconsin Point during this time; MLH and RJ compared notes and estimated that at least 10–12 jaegers hunted western Lake Superior in late September.
2007Spring One report 5/22 St. Louis (adult light morph at Park Point, Duluth) KRE et al. [Corrected]
2007Fall1 All reports from St. Louis, beginning 9/4 (dark morph at Park Point, Duluth) DRB, then 9/14 (2 dark morph at Park Point, Duluth) PHS, 9/22 (juvenile) PHS, 9/30 (juvenile at Superior Entry) JCC, MLH.
2008Fall1 Only reported from St. Louis: 9/19 H.R.B.O. KJB; 9/20 imm., Minnesota side of Superior Entry PHS; 9/21 1 ad. light morph and 1 dark juv., Superior Entry JWH; 9/28 ad. light morph, Park Point DDo, PHS; 10/6 ad., Park Point MLH.
2009Spring1 Adult observed 5/25 St. Louis (Park Point, Duluth) MLH.
2009Fall1 Seven individuals along Lake Superior in Duluth: adult light morph 8/24-30 ph. †PHS, †DBM, CRu; sub-adult light morph 8/24-29 †PHS, CRu; two light-morph adults 9/18-21, at least one through 9/24 †PHS, ph. MSS; two sub-adult light morphs 9/20-24 †PHS, ph. MLH; 10/15 (immature light morph) MJB. High count 9/21 (3) PHS.
2010Spring1 Light-morph adult observed 5/29 St. Louis (Minnesota side of Superior Entry) †PHS.
2010Fall1 All reports from Duluth in St. Louis beginning 9/16 (juv., Superior Entry) ph. KJB. Last reported 10/15 (subadult, Park Point) PHS.
2011Spring1 Adult light morph observed 5/25 St. Louis (Lake Superior just west of Lester River, Duluth) †MH fide JWL.
2011Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis beginning 9/6 (juv., Park Point, Duluth) ph. PHS, KRE (early median 9/10); likely the same individual was seen by m.ob. through 9/17. Two juv. were observed together 9/23–27 (Park Point R.A. and Superior Entry) m.ob. Another individual (age?) was found 10/1 at the mouth of the Lester River KJB. A juv. was last seen in the same area 10/5 ph. PHS (late median 9/30).
2012Spring No reports.
2012Fall1 Light-morph adult photographed from Park Point R.A. in St. Louis 8/17 ph. EBr.
2013Spring No reports.
2013Fall1 All reports from St. Louis, beginning with a second-cycle on 8/13 at Superior Entry KJB and an immature 8/18 ph. EBr. Peak counts were 7 on 8/30 at Park Point KJB, PHS and 6 (one juvenile, one second-cycle, three sub-adults, one adult) on 9/21 at Superior Entry JLK. Last reported 10/3 at Superior Entry PHS, MLH.
2014Spring1A minimum of three jaegers tied the spring seasonal record established in 2005. All were in St. Louis at Park Point, except where noted: 5/16 (adult, Superior Entry) KJB, 5/17 (light morph) ph. BCM, (2) PEJ, 5/19 (3 adults) KJB, 5/24 (light morph, 23rd Ave. East) JLK, 5/28 (adult, dark morph) †ClN, MGo.
2014Summer1
2014Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis: 8/31 (second-cycle) PHS, †RMD, 9/26 (dark-morph, Park Point R.A.) ClN, 9/27 (2 adult light-morphs, Superior Entry) KRE, JMs, KMS, BMu, ALo, 9/29 (3, Duluth Harbor) TPM, 9/30 (Superior Entry) JSf.
2015Spring No reports.
2015Fall1 All reports were from Superior Entry in St. Louis, except where noted: 9/7 (first-cycle) ClN, 9/9 St. Louis (second or third-cycle) JLK, 9/12 St. Louis (unaged) JPR, 9/20 St. Louis (unaged) JPR, ToL, 9/24 St. Louis (juvenile, Park Point) ALx, JeR, (third-cycle) RJ, PHS.
2016Spring1 Only report 5/28–29 St. Louis (Park Point R.A.) †JWL, JLK.
2016Fall1 All reports from St. Louis (chiefly Park Point R.A., also Superior Entry) beginning 9/5 JPR through 10/3 (4, three juv. and one un-aged dark morph) ALx.
2017Spring1 One report: 5/26 St. Louis (Park Point Beach House) JIf.
2017Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis. Early north 8/30, 9/4 (second-cycle) PHS, BeA, 9/9 (juvenile) ph. PHS, 9/10 (adult) PHS. High count 10/2 (3 over Lake Superior, viewed from H.R.N.R.) H.R.B.O. Late north 10/4 (2, one dark juvenile and one un-aged, Stoney Point) TRd, StK, 10/7 (light adults seen at Lester River mouth and Superior Entry; same bird?) MSb, ALx.
2018Spring1 A light-morph adult was seen 5/23–25 St. Louis (mouth of Miller Creek) JLK, m.ob.
2018Summer1 Seen 7/21 St. Louis (juvenile at Stoney Point) JLK.
2018Fall1  All reports were from St. Louis. Early north 9/1 ASu, 9/3 (not aged) SLL, JWL, 9/7 (imm.) MTe, m.ob. High count 9/14 (3, Park Point R.A. one intermediate and one light imm., and one light adult.) ASu. Late north 10/5 (Park Point R.A.) KJB, 10/12 (H.R.N.R.) JPR.
2019Spring1 Only reports: 5/11 St. Louis (adult light morph, Park Point R.A.) MLH, 5/25 St. Louis (adult light morph, Stoney Point) StK.
2019Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis, with no counts of more than one individual. Early north (median 9/7) 8/12 St. Louis (adult or third-cycle light morph, Park Point, Dune Bridge near airport) PHS, 8/16 St. Louis (juvenile light morph, Park Point, 22nd St. access) PHS, 8/31 St. Louis (Park Point, Dune Bridge near airport) ASu. Late north 9/24 St. Louis (adult light morph, Superior Entry) ASu, and then only 10/19–20 St. Louis (adult light morph, Park Point R.A.) JLK, ASu.
2020Spring1 A light-morph adult was seen 5/25 St. Louis (Park Point R.A.) MLH, PHS, SCB, JLK.
2020Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis. Early north (median 9/7) 8/21 (unaged, Park Point R.A.) ebd, 8/30 (imm. light morph, Park Point R.A.) PHS, 9/3 (2, intermediate juveniles, Park Point R.A.) LBa. High count 9/18 (3, two dark morph and one light morph, unaged, Superior Entry) KEm, m.ob. Late north 9/26 (unaged, Superior Entry) MwT, 9/27 (unaged, Park Point R.A.) REn, m.ob., 10/3 (adult, Superior Entry) MaJ (median 10/3).
2021Spring1 Up to three light-morph adults were reported this season, all from St. Louis at Park Point, except where noted: 5/15–16 (max. 2) StK, m.ob., 5/19–22 (max. 3) PHS, MLH, m.ob., 5/23 (Stony Point) StK, IDv, 5/26 JLK, m.ob., 5/28 St. Louis (2, Superior Entry) PHS, 5/29–30 (max. 2) IDv, m.ob.
2021Summer1 Seen 6/1 St. Louis (2, Park Point) IDv, 6/3 St. Louis (Stony Point) IDv, 6/3–4 St. Louis (Park Point) TLz, m.ob., 6/4 St. Louis (Brighton Beach) TLz.
2021Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis: Early north (median 9/6) 9/11 (second-cycle light morph, Superior Entry) EzH, 9/13 (adult, Park Point R.A.) IDv, 9/17 (unaged, Park Point R.A.) JLK. High count 9/18 (4, two adults and two first-cycles, Park Point R.A.) IDv. Late north 9/28 (unaged light morph, Superior Entry) ebd, 10/2 (unaged, Park Point R.A.) LiH, BEA, 10/16–19 (first-cycle dark morph, Superior Entry) EzH, m.ob. (median 10/3).
2022Spring1 One report 5/26 St. Louis MLH.
2022Fall1 All reports were from St. Louis. Early north (median 9/6) 9/10 (adult-light morph, Superior Entry) EzH, 9/14 (intermediate juvenile, Park Point R.A.) SeM, 9/17 St. Louis (max. 2, season high count, one juvenile described as “possible dark-morph” and a light-morph adult, Superior Entry) ELC, JGW. Late north 9/20 St. Louis (Superior Entry) PHS, 9/25 St. Louis (adult dark-morph, Superior Entry) ClN, m.ob., 11/6 St. Louis (third-cycle or adult light-morph, Park Point R.A.) ClN (median 10/3).
 
 Rare migrant mostly on Lake Superior, primarily in fall. More than 100 additional mostly fall records of Stercorarius sp., most recently in 2023.

Notes:

Click on the bird name to see a photographic image of the bird.
Column N  Number of counties where the bird was seen in the North.
Column S  Number of counties where the bird was seen in the South.