This season had an outstanding number of rarities, including sixth state records of Lewis’s Woodpecker and Townsend’s Warbler. But the best finds were all long-legged, unique-billed birds — a Wood Stork, a White Ibis, and the state’s first Roseate Spoonbill.

Cackling Geese were more widely reported than in any other year since 2012, but few reports included details. Mute Swans continue to be found in rural areas near the Twin Cities; presumably, these are the same individuals wandering widely in this region. A Tundra Swan that summered in Two Harbors lingered there until late August. High counts of this species in mid-November that are mirrored by high tallies of Trumpeter Swans at the same time lead one to wonder whether observers are being careful when identifying large flocks of Trumpeters in the fall.

Among the ducks, the sea ducks stole the show this season. Two Harlequin Ducks were found on Lake Superior; one of them lingered in Grand Marais for a month and a half. All three scoter species were more widely reported than in any other fall season. Surf Scoters also included first records for five counties and the highest southbound tally ever – 23 passing by Park Point in Duluth. White-winged Scoters produced a first record for Hubbard County, while Black Scoters provided three first county records. Even Long-tailed Ducks participated in the notable activity by appearing in Cook County record-early. Only one Barrow’s Goldeneye was found, a drake that was harvested in mid-November on Leech Lake.

A lone Horned Grebe showed up in Wells, Faribault County on the extremely early date of 8 August. As remarkable as that was, eight days later a total of four were on these same sewage ponds. No Clark’s Grebes were found, for the fourth of the last five fall seasons.

A record high count of over 2,500 Chimney Swifts at Mahtomedi High School resulted from an evening “sit.” Longfellow Gardens is a good place in Minneapolis to watch large numbers of hummingbirds in September. What makes this park remarkable is that there are no feeders present; the birds are simply attracted to the local flora.

Over 11,000 Sandhill Cranes tallied on a census at Sherburne N.W.R. was only 90 birds short of the record established by this annual census in 2017.

For the third consecutive fall, a Black-necked Stilt was reported (record pending acceptance by MOURC). This season’s stilt, from North Ottawa Impoundment, was one day shy of being record late for the state. More frequently seen in fall is American Avocet; one also at North Ottawa in early November was the second latest avocet found statewide. A Whimbrel at the Knife River Marina along Lake Superior made 2018 only the second fall season with a report of this species since 2008. Red Knots were discovered in three counties, the most since knots were also seen in three counties in 2007. A Ruff documented in early August was a first record for Freeborn County. Two Red Phalaropes were found this season; one was a first record for Pipestone County, while the other in St. Louis County was at the same location, the Cook W.T.P., where one was discovered in October 2016. With these individuals, Minnesota has now had 24 records of this species, all but three in the fall season.

A Pomarine Jaeger in October at Point Douglas in Washington County was only the third south record of this species since the 1970s. All other jaegers — Parasitics and those not identified to species — were reported from Lake Superior in St. Louis County.

An adult Sabine’s Gull in Carlton County produced a first county record. Two juvenile Little Gulls were sighted in Duluth at the mouth of the Lester River in mid-October. A Slaty-backed Gull at Grand Portage was the second for Cook County and the ninth for the state, all since 2006. Great Black-backed Gulls were found in every fall season from 2006 through 2016, but none were seen in fall 2017 or this season.

Red-throated Loon reports ran from late September through late October, mostly from Duluth, but also with reports from Mille Lacs and Crow Wing counties that may have represented the same individual. Pacific Loons were found more widely, from a total of seven counties, including a first record for Wright.

An immature Wood Stork photographed near Hallock in Kittson County was a fourth record for the state. In Washington County an adult White Ibis was only the second for Minnesota. Both of these remarkable finds were trumped by a Roseate Spoonbill found near Hastings; possibly the same individual (or a second bird?) was discovered later that afternoon in Bloomington. The stork and the ibis were each seen by single observers, and the morning sighting of the spoonbill was only by two birders, but once the first state-record spoonbill settled near the Old Cedar Ave. Bridge, it was reported by over 100 individuals!

Another Barn Owl was found this season in Houston County, from where there have been sporadic reports since at least Spring 2017. For the first fall since 2011, no Northern Hawk Owls were reported, and the lone Great Gray Owl was in Aitkin County.

A Lewis’s Woodpecker near Rochert in Becker County was a sixth for Minnesota. Continuing an increase in observations from the previous fall, American Three-toed Woodpeckers were seen in Cook, Koochiching, and at three locations in St. Louis County. Observations of Black-backed Woodpeckers in ten counties was the highest fall county tally since 2009.

Prairie Falcons were seen in three counties in October, including a first record for Redwood. A Say’s Phoebe discovered the previous summer lingered in Traverse into early August. Another Say’s was a first for Itasca County and only the third record of this species after September.

A tally of 423 Red-breasted Nuthatches moving through Stoney Point along Lake Superior was over twice the previous high count for this species. Carolina Wrens made another strong showing this fall, though all were limited to the southern half of the state. As raptor migration slowed down at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, a female Mountain Bluebird delighted birders for over a week in mid-November.

Approximately 22 Townsend’s Solitaires were found this season, nine of which flew by Hawk Ridge on different days. Seven Varied Thrushes was the most reported in a fall season in at least ten years. Northern Mockingbirds were seen in August in both Anoka and Ramsey counties. Both Eurasian Tree Sparrows of this fall were in the Northeast region: one continued from summer in downtown Duluth, while another was only seen for two days in the Lakeview Cemetery, Two Harbors.

It was an off year for redpolls as Common Redpoll reports were below-average and no Hoary Redpolls were found. After last fall’s exceptional incursion of Red Crossbills, their numbers were back near long-term averages. White-winged sightings were slightly below average, and none were found south.

Smith Longspur reports were all from October, and all were southwest of a line from Traverse to Cottonwood counties. Lark Buntings were discovered in Lac qui Parle County in early August and in Duluth in October. Nelson’s Sparrow provided first records for Kandiyohi and Nobles counties in late September. Spotted Towhees were seen in Becker, Chippewa and Lac qui Parle counties — down from the five reports the prior fall but otherwise more than in any other autumn since 2002. The only report of a Great-tailed Grackle was of a pair in Cottonwood County in mid-August.

A Connecticut Warbler seen in Pope was a first record for that county. The state’s sixth Townsend’s Warbler, and first since 2004, was found by a birder from British Columbia who was participating in a feeder and water feature watch with a friend at his Freeborn County home.

A few Summer Tanagers were scattered across the state, making appearances in Scott and Cook counties and providing a first record for Red Lake County. Almost every county along the Minnesota River had a Blue Grosbeak this season; the one in Ramsey was a first for that county. Dickcissels also made an impressive showing, as the majority of counties south of a line from Polk to Chisago reported them.

Weather: Temperatures in August and until the end of September were slightly warmer than average on a statewide basis. The first widespread frost occurred on 29 September, which is near the average first-frost date. In contrast, both October and November were cooler than average — 4.1ºF and 6.5ºF below normal, respectively.

A major storm brought significant rainfall and tornados to the Central part of the state on 3 August, while another storm with significant rain, hail and tornadoes hit the East-central and Southeast regions on 24–28 August. While the statewide average precipitation totals for August were barely above the norm, in September this average was over 2 inches above normal, due, in part, to major storms in the South-central and Southeast regions on 3–5 and 20 September. October continued to be wetter than normal, though the regions with the wettest weather shifted to the Northeast. In contrast, November was drier than normal in most areas of the state, with Winona and Cook counties being exceptions.

Documented Records Still Under Review: Black-necked Stilt 10/14–17 Grant (1, North Ottawa Impoundment); Lark Bunting 10/13 St. Louis (Kenwood area).

Insufficiently Documented Records of Regular Species: Golden Eagle 9/15 Cottonwood and Jackson (early date); Northern Goshawk 10/25 Grant (out of range); Rough-legged Hawk 8/10 Fillmore (early date); American Three-toed Woodpecker 10/24 Cook (heard only); Eastern Wood-Pewee 10/13 Fillmore (late date); Tufted Titmouse 9/7 Freeborn (out of range); Grasshopper Sparrow 11/1 Dakota (late date); Nelson’s Sparrow 8/16 Ramsey (early date); Henslow’s Sparrow 10/22 Rice (would be record late); Rusty Blackbird 8/10 Roseau (6) (early date).

Acknowledgments: We thank Jeanie Joppru and Jim Lind for compiling and providing transcripts of Minnesota’s two weekly birding reports. Special thanks to Dave Cahlander for building and maintaining the Seasonal Reports submission and production web pages through which most of this data is collected and organized. In addition to the data collected through this MOU website, we are grateful for the data provided for the creation of this report by eBird (http://www.ebird.org). Bruce Fall has been extremely helpful by providing additional information from eBird data. Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished Seasonal Report data over the 25-year period 1993 through 2017. Our appreciation goes out to all our contributors, especially those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.