Birders found only one Red-throated Loon on Lake Superior, but as many as five Pacific Loons were tallied in the state. Long overdue was Cook County's first Pacific Loon. Much more unexpected was one at Black Dog Lake, Dakota County. Common Loons were widespread, but fewer staged on the large interior lakes of northern Minnesota. Numbers of Horned Grebes were down. A first county Western Grebe was in Mille Lacs, while an adult Clark's Grebe with two chicks continued from the summer season on Thielke Lake in western Minnesota.

Good numbers of Great Egrets were found in 22 north counties after an outstanding post-breeding dispersal. Snowy Egrets visited two western Minnesota locations. Cattle Egrets were in St. Louis and three southern counties. Two White-faced Ibis were found in Traverse County, while unidentified Plegadis were in Murray and Becker counties.

Greater White-fronted Geese passed through in small numbers. Apparently healthy individuals of this species and Snow Goose were found in August/early September, suggesting the possibility of summering in the state. Ross's Goose, also present in small numbers, appeared in four north and six south counties. Two probable hybrid Snow x Ross's Geese were reminders to identify these species with care. Mute Swans in Wright County and a first county record in McLeod marked the fifth consecutive fall for this species just west of the Twin Cities metro area.

The best waterfowl counts came from Big Stone N.W.R. and Pool #8 in Houston County. The most interesting waterfowl reports were “inland” scoters. All three species were scarce on Lake Superior, where expected. Instead, Surf Scoters were found in 14 counties away from the North Shore (mostly on sewage lagoons), White-winged Scoters were in Brown and Cass, and Black Scoters were in Hennepin and Meeker. counties A few Long-tailed Ducks were also discovered away from the big lake. A report of an adult female Smew brought excitement until in-hand examination (it had been shot by a hunter) revealed evidence of recent captivity.

Reports of a Swallow-tailed Kite in Scott and Dakota counties were probably the same bird. This was only the second report of this species since 1976. Eight dark-morph Broad-winged Hawks, including four in the same day, made an appearance at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in Duluth. A carefully catalogued count of Red-tailed Hawk plumages at Hawk Ridge provided an interesting study of their diversity. Within a late-September kettle of Swainson's Hawks in Jackson County was an immature Ferruginous Hawk; an adult was documented at Felton Prairie in mid-October. Rough-legged Hawks showed up late at Hawk Ridge. They were reported from western Minnesota almost a month earlier. The daily high count for Golden Eagle at Hawk Ridge was 26 — just 3 short of the previous year's record. American Kestrel migration at Hawk Ridge set a season and daily record, the latter associated with a major movement of more than 30,000 dragonflies. Two reports of a dark-morph Gyrfalcon in Cook County, separated by four days and 35 miles of coastline, may have been the same bird. Prairie Falcons were found in two locations.

Two lingering rails were unusual. In late October, a Yellow Rail was seen skulking along the edge of a small pond in downtown Grand Marais. During mid-November, a Virginia Rail was in Bloomington. Piping Plovers were found in four counties, including the first in Jackson. Fifty American Avocets were scattered among ten different locations. Over 13,000 Pectoral Sandpipers at North Heron Lake, Jackson County, established a record-high count for this species. The movement of Buff-breasted Sandpipers though the state was outstanding for the second consecutive fall. A Ruff was found in Dakota County in early August. Over 730 Red-necked Phalaropes were tallied from across the state including a record-high 220 at the Thief River Falls lagoons, Pennington County.

The only jaegers were one or two adult Parasitics found near the Superior Entry during the last week of September. A juvenile Little Gull on Lake Winnibigoshish furnished a second county record for Itasca. Along the Minnesota/Iowa border an adult Black-headed Gull spent over a month at the north shore of Spirit Lake. This was the fifth consecutive fall for this species at this location. Counts of Bonaparte's Gulls at Lakes Winnibigoshish and Mille Lacs were down, mirroring the decline in Common Loons this season at these staging areas. Thayer's Gulls arrived later than in recent years. A first-winter Iceland Gull appeared at Black Dog Lake just before the end of the season. Apparently, the many reports of Lesser Black-backed Gull in Dakota and Hennepin counties all referred to the same adult, as nobody reported multiple individuals or other ages. Glaucous Gull was also late and scarce — only two north first-winters and one south adult appeared before the end of the season.

A ninth state record Band-tailed Pigeon arrived in time for Thanksgiving and was seen by many as it eventually overwintered in Dakota County. Eurasian Collared-Doves continued to be reported in Blue Earth and Houston counties. Continuing the trend set by Arctic gulls, winter owls were also scarce and late. Snowy Owls first appeared (based on dated reports) in late November. Short-eared Owls were in three western and three eastern counties. Northern Hawk Owl and Boreal Owl were apparently absent. At H.R.N.R., numbers of banded Northern Saw-whet Owls increased by 18% over 2001 totals. The peak Common Nighthawk migration, chronicled at Lakewood Pumping Station in Duluth, occurred, as expected, during the last week of August. Only one American Three-toed Woodpecker could be mustered, but numbers of Black-backed Woodpeckers were up along the North Shore. At least 25 were counted at Hawk Ridge alone.

A singing Acadian Flycatcher in Anoka County was of interest. An unidentified Empidonax in Beltrami County on
7 October was late — regardless of the species. Much later was a well-documented Least Flycatcher in Hennepin County in early November. Observers in Cook County carefully studied a late October Great-crested Flycatcher to preclude the possibility of a vagrant Myiarchus of some other species.

Loggerhead Shrikes lingered in Vermilion Township, Dakota County, where several pairs successfully nested. Additional Loggerheads were found in Clay, Kandiyohi, Otter Tail, and Yellow Medicine counties. Northern Shrikes showed up in early October, but were not found along the North Shore until near the end of the month. Quite late was the Blue-headed Vireo discovered in Hennepin County in early November. Also in the first week of November was a record-late Northern Rough-winged Swallow in Scott County.

A Rock Wren in residential Bloomington, Hennepin County, puzzled the observer for a few days, but field notes made clear its identity. This species has been found in Minnesota during the fall season about once a decade. Seven different Carolina Wrens, including first county records in Carlton, Chisago, and Lake, were noteworthy and continued the trend noted in the summer season. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were, for the first time since 1998, not found along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Three Mountain Bluebirds were seen — two along the North Shore and one at the Louisville Swamp in Scott County. Seven Townsend's Solitaires included five along the North Shore and first county records in Sibley and Winona. Reported through Cornell's Project Feederwatch was a Varied Thrush in Crow Wing County. In addition to a lingering Northern Mockingbird in Empire Township, Dakota County (see summer report), individuals were found in Olmsted, Hennepin, Ramsey, St. Louis, and Cook counties. Bohemian Waxwings were scarce, though a September report from Hubbard County preceded the recent median north arrival date and one strayed as far south as Scott County.

As an indicator of the lateness of fall passerine migration, among the warbler species regularly found north and south, 65% lingered later than the median north departure and 73% lingered later than the median south departure dates. Particularly late migrants included Tennessee, Nashville, Yellow, Magnolia, Black-throated Green (25 days later than the prior record), and Black-and-white warblers. A Blue-winged Warbler banded at H.R.N.R. was only the second for St. Louis County. South reports of Black-throated Blue Warblers came from Anoka, Ramsey, and Rice counties plus eight birds in Hennepin County! A Louisiana Waterthrush at Wood Lake in Hennepin was a pleasant surprise, while the only Yellow-breasted Chat was seen in early September in Lac Qui Parle County.

In November, two Summer Tanagers were found at opposite corners of the state — one in the southeast and one in the northwest. The bird in Pennington County lingered for over three weeks. In contrast, the latest Scarlet Tanager departed the state in October. A well-documented Western Tanager provided only the third accepted record of this species in the fall.

Four Spotted Towhees were found in the western third of the state. Lingering from the summer season was a Baird's Sparrow in Polk County. Henslow's Sparrows were found at Big Stone N.W.R. Le Conte's Sparrows peaked at the end of September, when 30 were found in a single field in Meeker County. Among them were four Nelson's Sparrows, for which there were many more reports than usual (nine counties). Smith's Longspurs were found as usual in Cottonwood County (at Red Rock Prairie and Jeffers Petroglyphs), and along the North Shore.

Great-tailed Grackles were reported only from Jackson County at their somewhat reliable location along state highway 86. Winter finches made a poor showing, with very few reports of Pine Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill, Common Redpoll, and Evening Grosbeak. Stay tuned for the winter report to learn if they were truly absent or just late in arriving.

Weather Summary: Rainfall across much of Minnesota was well above historical averages in August, continuing a pattern established in June and July. Statewide, the month ranked as the sixth wettest August ever recorded, though temperatures were close to normal. September brought drier weather to the western and northern portions of the state, but central and east-central regions again experienced above average rainfall. Temperatures were generally above normal for the first half of the month, then cooled to below normal for the last half. Early October rains in the south and heavy snow 20–21 October in central Minnesota pushed precipitation levels above normal. Temperatures were extraordinarily cold during October — the coldest since 1925. Many regions experienced mean temperatures five to eight degrees colder than the norm, more akin to mid-November. November precipitation was very light and temperatures returned to normal. A cold front moving through on the 29^th brought sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph.
Undocumented reports: Plegadis 9/4 Lincoln (Tyler W.M.A.), 9/4 Kandiyohi (4 at New London), 9/5 Lyon (Island Lake); White-tailed Kite 8/18 Clay (Rushfeldt Lake, Skree Township); Mississippi Kite 9/3 Dakota (Apple Valley); Ferruginous Hawk 10/21 Brown (Burnstown Township); Great-tailed Grackles 8/11 Cottonwood (Bat Lake).

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Molly and Dave Evans, Frank Nicoletti, and the Duluth Audubon Society for data from Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. Karl Bardon and Anthony Hertzel reviewed this report and offered many helpful suggestions. Dave Benson, Anthony Hertzel, and Jeanie Joppru provided transcripts of weekly Minnesota birding reports. Medians of recent arrival and departure dates were calculated from published and unpublished data used for Seasonal Reports from 1985 through 2001. Finally, many thanks to the dedicated observers who submit data and documentation each season.