This was an astounding season for birding in Minnesota. Eight different Accidental species, among them the state’s second Painted Redstart, and 13 Casuals, many with multiple reports, made for an impressive variety. But also significant were the numbers of Regular species found far more widely than expected in the fall. This included all three scoters, Northern Goshawk, Prairie Falcon, Carolina Wren, Evening Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Vesper Sparrow, Nelson’s Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.

In late September a Brant was found in Houston County, the first in the state since 2016. In early November, a Brant was harvested in McLeod County, though that record was reported late and is still pending evaluation by the MOU Records Committee. Both were first county records of this Casual species. Also in early November, a King Eider was seen on Lake Bemidji in Beltrami County. For a month beginning in late October, one or two female-type Harlequin Ducks were on Lake Superior between the McQuade Small Craft Harbor and Two Harbors. All three species of scoter showed up in terrific numbers, primarily from the beginning of October to the end of November. A female Barrow’s Goldeneye in mid-November was a first for Beltrami County.

In late August, an ani was well-described at the Park Point Recreation Area. This is only the eleventh record of this genus, and is the second earliest — only preceded by a mid-July Groove-billed Ani found in 1978; all other anis have been found between mid-September and early November. Mahtomedi High School is currently one of the most important Chimney Swift roosting sites in the state. With this season’s high tally there, the highest counts of this species are all from this location, in 2018, 2019, and now 2020.

Four Yellow Rails was the highest fall tally since 2004 and gave Olmsted and Pipestone first county records. An annual census by the USF&WS staff at Sherburne N.W.R. counted 11,244 Sandhill Cranes at the refuge at the end of October. All our highest counts of cranes have been from this area between the last week of October and the first week of November.

Black-necked Stilts are almost Regular during the spring, but uncommon in the fall. When found in fall, they are often lingering birds from the summer, so one found in late September in Lyon County was quite unusual. A Black-bellied Plover seen in Two Harbors in mid-October tied for the third latest ever in the state. If a Whimbrel shows up in the fall, it’s usually in Duluth or along the Lake Superior shoreline. One at Park Point in late August was expected, but another was a surprise near Littlefork and was a first for Koochiching County. After falling in status on the most recent MOU Checklist from Regular to Casual due to a dearth of recent records, Red Knot reports are rebounding. This season, individuals were found in St. Louis, Grant, Big Stone, and a group of three in Lyon County, with another two records pending acceptance; two more reports were likely valid but without documentation. About 250 Buff-breasted Sandpipers was an excellent total for the season; 60 of these were seen in a single flock at the North Ottawa Impoundment. Early September saw a record-high tally of Red-necked Phalaropes at the Thief River Falls W.T.P.

Several Parasitic Jaegers were found in Duluth from late August until early October. The only jaeger seen away from Lake Superior was an extremely well-documented Long-tailed in Lyon County (The Loon 93:98–100). This bird was only the second jaeger ever recorded in the Southwest region; the first was also a Long-tailed, from Heron Lake in 1942!

Sabine’s Gulls provided first records for Faribault and Watonwan counties. An adult Laughing Gull was on the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry in late September. Apart from one record from Otter Tail, all fall reports of this species have been from the Lake Superior shoreline. The state’s tenth Slaty-backed Gull was found on a Duluth Port Terminal roof in late August; all records of this species have been since 2006. In late November a second-cycle gull was spotted in Dakota County that appeared to be the state’s sixth Glaucous-winged Gull and first since 2011; close examination of the many photographs of this bird showed it to probably be a hybrid. 

While Red-throated Loons were only seen on Lake Superior, Pacifics were spotted there and also on Mille Lacs, Waconia, and Loon lakes, the last one establishing a first record for Blue Earth County. Two Neotropic Cormorants lingered into the fall in Richfield, Hennepin County, with one staying until mid-October. Snowy Egrets were present in above-average numbers. A lone Little Blue Heron was in the New Germany area of Carver County in early August. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in Hennepin, Grant, and Steele counties were a nice surprise for a species often absent from the state in fall.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory had several record counts this season: on 1 October, they set a new state record with 854 Turkey Vultures, and on 23 October they tallied 583 Rough-legged Hawks, a modern day record for all of North America. First records for Swallow-tailed Kite in Pine and Carlton counties three-weeks apart may have been of the same individual. In late August and into early September, up to three Mississippi Kites were seen at the Bethany Hawkwatch in Mankato (The Loon 93:105–106); another flew past Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory counters on 9 September.

Several Barn Owls were recorded in Houston County from mid-September to mid-October, but exactly how many is still being debated by the Records Committee. Only two Snowy Owls had been found in the state by the end of the season, one near Ely and the other at the opposite end of the state in Mower County. Northern Hawk Owls were only spotted in the Northeast region. One Great Gray Owl was in Ramsey County in November; all other reports were from the far north ranging from Cook to Roseau counties. Prairie Falcons were found in six counties, the highest total since fall 1993. Two of those records were firsts for Carver and Koochiching.

Prior to this season, Minnesota had recorded a Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird in 2011 and a Tropical in 2015. This fall saw that total matched in a single season when silent Tropical/Couch’s Kingbirds appeared in Stearns and Lac qui Parle counties (a third record from Lake is still pending acceptance). A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was photographed along Lake Superior in St. Louis County in early September, while a second individual (pending acceptance) was found in the same county in mid-October. Two Say’s Phoebes continued near Odessa into August, while a third was found at the Castle Danger W.T.P. in early October.

A White-eyed Vireo at the end of November was record-late in Winona County. Scott County had its first Rock Wren when one was discovered in Belle Plaine. Carolina Wrens were reported from an unprecedented 25 counties, including first records for Benton, Lyon, and Swift. Five Mountain Bluebirds (two still pending acceptance) were the most reported in a season since fall 2006. Reports of Townsend’s Solitaires from 12 counties was double the expected total for fall; two of these were county firsts, for Lake of the Woods and McLeod. Cottonwood also picked up a first county record when a Eurasian Tree Sparrow showed up in early October. This species was also reported from Dakota and McLeod counties.

Evening and Pine grosbeaks, Common and Hoary redpolls, and Red and White-winged crossbills all had impressive showings this fall. Evening Grosbeaks were seen in fall in the most counties since 1985, while White-winged Crossbills were found more widely than in any previous fall. A tally of 1,805 White-wingeds at Stony Point on 23 October smashed the previous high count of 831! Other species that appeared in well-above-average numbers this season included Smith’s Longspur, Nelson’s Sparrow, and a record 12 Spotted Towhees, two of which provided first records for Le Sueur and Swift counties. A Yellow-breasted Chat was at Lone Tree Lake in Lyon County. The state’s sixth Bullock’s Oriole was a first for Itasca County in late October.

Black-throated Blue Warblers were reported in the highest fall numbers ever with reports from 23 counties. A Yellow-throated Warbler lingered at Vadnais Lake in Ramsey County into early August. The state’s tenth Black-throated Gray Warbler (The Loon 92:145–147) was at Sucker Lake, also in Ramsey County, in early September. In late October the state’s second Painted Redstart appeared in St. Paul. This was the first record of this species to be photographed in the state.

Summer Tanagers were seen in Hennepin, Stearns, and Stevens counties. A Western Tanager in Dakota County was only the fifth fall record of this Regular species.

Weather: Average temperatures in August continued the trend from summer of being slightly above normal, though that changed in September as average temperatures fell to 1.2ºF below normal and October was almost six degrees below normal. November temperatures rebounded, however, to almost 34ºF – six degrees above normal for the month. Extremes in November ranged from 84ºF in Granite Falls on the 4th to -2ºF at Norris Camp on the 13th.

A severe storm in mid-August brought tornados and high winds to central and northern Minnesota. Rainfall during the month was quite variable — almost nil in parts of the Southeast, and more than twice as much as usual in the North-central region. September, on the other hand, was dry across most of the state. A major hailstorm hit the West-central and South-central regions on 5 September. Most of the precipitation that fell in October was snow. Two major snowstorms struck the southern and central parts of the state on 20 and 22 October, resulting in the snowiest October on record for the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. Another storm on 10 November brought freezing rain to the Southeast and four to eight inches of snow to the Southwest, Central, and Northeast regions.

Documented Reports Still Under Review: Brant 11/7 McLeod (near Hutchinson); Red Knot 8/20–22 St. Louis (Brighton Beach), 8/26 Big Stone (juvenile, Marsh Lake); Barn Owl 9/19 Houston (Perkins Valley), 9/28 Houston (2, one at Perkins Valley, another 11 kilometers away), 10/13 Houston (2, one at Perkins Valley, another three kilometers away); Tropical/Couch’s Kingbird 9/30 Lake (Scenic Hwy 61 at C.R. 9); Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 10/10 St. Louis (Western Waterfront Trail); Mountain Bluebird 10/22–24 St. Louis (Dart Road., Sax-Zim Bog), 10/25 Two Harbors (Lakeview Cemetery); Lark Bunting 9/19 Kandiyohi (Kandi W.M.A.); Townsend’s Warbler 8/29 Hennepin (Wood Lake N.C.).

Insufficiently Documented Records of Regular Species: Short-billed Dowitcher 9/23–24 Swift (4), 9/26 Lincoln (late dates; see The Loon 89:160–161); Great Black-backed Gull 9/25 Cook (no details), Red-tailed Hawk (“Harlan’s”) 8/29 Aitkin (extremely early); Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 8/2 Kittson (first county record); Golden Eagle 8/19 Hubbard (record-early by two weeks); Black-backed Woodpecker 8/2 Kittson (first county record); Orange-crowned Warbler 8/17–18 Meeker, 8/26 Scott, 8/27–30 Brown, 8/31 Kittson (early dates; only one report had any details but those were not sufficient to confirm the identity; reports in August are not published without convincing details).

Acknowledgements: With this issue we welcome Alyssa DeRubeis to the team authoring spring and fall Seasonal Reports. Dave Cahlander built and maintains the Seasonal Reports submission and production web pages (http://moumn.org/moureports/season.php) through which most of this data is collected and organized. We are also grateful for the additional data provided for the creation of this report by eBird (http://www.ebird.org, accessed December 2020). Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished Seasonal Report data from the 25-year period 1994 through 2018. Finally and most importantly, our appreciation goes out to all those who contribute their sightings data to the MOU. We are especially grateful to those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.