Following record high counts there in May 2000 and May 2001, a total of only 12 Red-throated Loons was at Duluth. Single Red-throateds in Hennepin and Olmsted counties were documented by multiple observers. Serendipitous was the discovery of a Pacific Loon at Lake Shetek, Murray County, during the North American Migration Count. Nearly routine was a Clark's Grebe at Thielke Lake, Big Stone County; another was at Agassiz N.W.R. Fourteen Snowy Egrets were the most since Spring 1999, but other species among the Ardeidae were scarce — only one Little Blue Heron and one Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Though still a Casual species, no fewer than ten White-faced Ibis were reported.

For the second consecutive year, Karl Bardon conducted the Hastings-Prescott Bird Count (The Loon 73:231–235). Total hours (106) of coverage was about 59% that of last spring, yet the total number of waterbirds (70,057) was still about 92% of last year's total. Temperatures reached 91º F. in Minneapolis on 15 April and strong winds persisted 14–17 April, so the count ended about a week earlier than in 2001. Declines from last spring included Double-crested Cormorants (down 62%), Canada Geese (down 62%), and diurnal raptors (down 43%). However, Tundra Swans more than quintupled!

Birders, local residents, and Minnesota D.N.R. area wildlife managers with many years of experience described waterfowl migration in western Minnesota as the best since the 1960s. Conditions in the Great Plains apparently induced an eastward shift in migration routes. Tripling the previous record high count was 10,585 Greater White-fronted Geese in Big Stone County. Dave Trauba estimated that over 100,000 Snow Geese moved through Lac Qui Parle W.M.A. 5–7 April and Dave Soehren described a flock of “Snows and Blues” near Appleton that stretched nearly five miles long and more than a mile wide at its widest point! Less than 20 years ago, Ross's Goose was still Casual in Minnesota, but approximately 1000 were reported this spring. Recapitulating their strong showing in western Minnesota, numbers of Greater White-fronted, Ross's, and Snow geese were up at Hastings-Prescott. Careful scrutiny of the geese in western Minnesota revealed a Brant in Lyon County.

Highlights in the duck family included four Cinnamon Teal and four probable Blue-winged x Cinnamon Teal hybrids. Observers are encouraged to not only consider the possibility of hybrid waterfowl, but also document them. Numbers of Greater Scaup staging off Park Point in Duluth have apparently increased in recent springs; the 5400 on 17 April was a record high count. Providing a second record for St. Louis County was a female King Eider in Duluth. It was also the state's second spring record; the first was four birds at Lower Red Lake, 9 May 1971 (The Loon 43:90–91). All three scoters were found on Lake Superior this spring.

An early Mississippi Kite visited the Twin Cities area, but more unusual was one in Otter Tail County. Frank Nicoletti and Dave Carman conducted the West Skyline Hawk Count (W.S.H.C.) in Duluth for the 6^th consecutive spring and tallied 25,474 raptors during 483.25 hours over a period of 88 days. Excellent numbers of Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, and Golden Eagles were recorded, but the unequivocal highlight was an adult light-morph Ferruginous Hawk.
Minnesota D.N.R. and other agencies publicized drawdowns of area wetlands, including Mud Lake in Traverse County which attracted exceptional numbers of shorebirds. A total of six May surveys there produced 1900+ shorebirds on four dates and record high counts for several species. Mud Lake had 18 species 2 May, 21 species 8 May, 20 species 13 May, 16 species 22 May, and 18 species 29 May. The best example of shorebird diversity was the 27 species found in northwestern Minnesota 26 May (AXH, PHS).

Despite the shorebird bonanza at Mud Lake, American Golden-Plovers were scarce for the third consecutive spring. Enthusiasm about the number of migrant Piping Plovers was dampened by their possible extirpation as a breeding species after devastation of Pine-Curry Island by powerful storms and high water levels at Lake of the Woods. The statewide total of 167+ American Avocets was the most ever recorded in one season (The Loon 70:11–20) and 179 Willets in 36 counties was just as impressive. Far exceeding the Spring 2000 total of 274+ Hudsonian Godwits was this season's 740 birds in 30 counties! Maxima of 12 Red Knots in each of two counties were not record high counts, but this species also had its best migration in years. Two Western Sandpipers were carefully identified at Mud Lake and a Ruff transited Dakota County for the second consecutive spring. The statewide total of 1785+ Wilson's Phalaropes (950+ last spring) included 340 at Warroad and 164 at the Roseau lagoons on the same day. Thanks to all who submitted counts and specific locations for shorebirds.

The highlight of a Carlton County Big Day conducted for the benefit of Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve was an adult Little Gull at the Moose Lake sewage ponds, but after being found at Duluth for three consecutive spring migrations, Little Gulls were absent from that location. Bardon cornered the market on California Gulls this spring with two adults in western Minnesota and a fourth-year bird in Isanti County. Recorded in western Minnesota for only the second time was the Lesser Black-backed Gull in Traverse County. Another Arctic Tern graced Duluth; this species has been seen there in 10 of the last 30 years.

Eurasian Collared-Doves returned to last year's nesting location in Houston County by early March and an adult was documented at Herman in Grant County, but proof of this species' expansion in Minnesota continues to be plagued by undocumented reports. A Snowy Owl lingering through 18 May at Duluth was the first one ever included on the species list of birds seen during the annual Hawk Ridge Birdathon. Increasingly threatened throughout its range and documented in Minnesota for the first time since 31 May 1997, an apparently unmated Burrowing Owl attracted attention from the Murray County Highway Department, Minnesota D.N.R., and local residents. Short–eared Owls declined in numbers following an irruption that lasted about two years.

A late April Say's Phoebe in western Minnesota was congruent with its recent pattern of vagrancy and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on the North Shore of Lake Superior was almost predictable (The Loon 73:39–43). Loggerhead Shrike numbers were comparable to last spring. Briefly advertising from a huge mound of fill at a construction site was a Rock Wren in Clay County. Five additional Townsend's Solitaires in spring resulted in a total of 33 birds since September, the most since the invasion of 1992–93 (The Loon 65:110–115).

Warblers arriving in late April and early May encountered predominantly north winds, below normal temperatures, and delayed leaf-out — most deciduous trees were relatively bare until the end of May in northern regions. These phenomena kept birds on or near the ground as observers witnessed Minnesota's best warbler migration in many years. Hordes of warblers were seen on the ground, along roadways and streams, and around lakes and ponds, searching for insects and other food sources. Relatively few communicated the exuberance of spring migration through birdsong. As a result, wood lots and parks were eerily silent even though the understory and leaf litter were peppered with passerines.

Warbler migration was lackluster along the North Shore of Lake Superior and in southwestern Minnesota, but numbers and variety were fantastic elsewhere. Karl Bardon circumvented Mille Lacs Lake 15 May and tallied record high counts for several species (The Loon 74:182–183). Peak variety included 26 warbler species in Goodhue County 11 May (KJB), 24 species in Washington County 15 May (AXH, PHS), 26 species in the Mankato area 18 May (CRM), 26 species in Meeker County 18 May (DMF), and 26 species in Anoka County 23 May (KJB). Twenty or more warbler species were found during each of six consecutive days in Rice County, including 25 species 17–18 May (TFB). Also remarkable was 21 warbler species in Ben Yokel's yard at Melrude, St. Louis County 19 May! Two observers (AXH, PHS) found 25 warbler species in northwestern Minnesota enroute to a new statewide Big Day record of 204 species on 26 May.

Though far fewer than the record high influx of 18+ during May 1999, a total of 7 Summer Tanagers was still more than twice the 30-year average (The Loon 71:216–220). Unusually high numbers of Summer Tanagers were also discovered in Wisconsin and Michigan during Spring 2002 (North American Birds 56:309). Reminiscent of the May 1995 invasion of Western Tanagers into Minnesota (The Loon 67:180–181), when only about a third of 20 reports were ever documented with written details or photos, half of the 12+ individuals reported this season had no details.

Contrary to conventional wisdom that Spotted Towhee is best looked for in southwestern Minnesota during late April and early May, the only report this spring was from Steele County. Furnishing a 6^th state record was an adult Black-throated Sparrow at Moorhead, Clay County. The previous records were 20–23 September 1974 at Stoney Point, St. Louis County, 7 October 1980 at Duluth, St. Louis County, 25 November through 27 December 1992 at Doran, Wilkin County, 8 November 1997 at Austin, Mower County, and 7 October 2001 at Knife River, Lake County. Discovered at Grand Marais in late December 2001 and persisting through 1 May was Minnesota's third Golden-crowned Sparrow. The same Clay County backyard that hosted the Black-throated Sparrow attracted a Black-headed Grosbeak. A record high number of Lazuli Buntings was reported but two were undocumented. Consistent with its pattern of vagrancy to the Midwest was yet another Painted Bunting, the 6^th occurrence in the state since 1994.
Great-tailed Grackles were found in Jackson County for the 5^th consecutive year, while pioneering birds visited Lyon, Murray, and Nicollet counties. The highlight of the spring for many observers was a male Scott's Oriole in Olmsted County. A second male Scott's Oriole was photographed as it contemplated a junco sitting in the snow below a feeder in Wright County! The dates overlapped, so different birds were involved. Minnesota's first Scott's was an immature male banded at Duluth 23 May 1974, that subsequently stayed three weeks (The Loon 47:22–24, 48:34). All of these were probably spring overshoots, but vagrant Scott's have also been found in late fall/winter, e.g., the adult male photographed at Silver Islet, Sibley Provincial Park, Thunder Bay District, Ontario, 9 November 1975 (Canadian Field-Naturalist 90:500–501); a male (possibly a second-year bird) photographed in Adams County, Wisconsin, late November 1995 – 3 February 1996 (Passenger Pigeon 58:293–296); and an immature male photographed in Stark County, Illinois, 15 January – 3 February 2000 (North American Birds 54:228).
Undocumented Reports: White-faced Ibis 5/? Kandiyohi; Eurasian Collared-Dove 5/13+ Renville (Renville); Say's Phoebe 4/26 Lac Qui Parle (Louisburg); Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 5/14 Meeker (Pigeon Lake), 5/30 Wilkin (near Rothsay); Lark Bunting 5/23 Lac Qui Parle; Lazuli Bunting 5/26 Kandiyohi (Willmar), 5/27 Wright (Lake Maria State Park); Great-tailed Grackle 4/12 Murray (Lake Wilson). Undocumented rarities cannot be included in “The Season.”

Weather Summary: In sharp contrast to unusually warm weather during Winter 2001–2002, March was significantly colder than normal. Temperatures ranged from 4.3º (Southeast region) to 9.4º (Southwest region) below historical averages. In a unique juxtaposition, the March mean temperature was colder than any of the preceding winter months in numerous communities. A powerful winter storm system 14–15 March left a swath of heavy snow from Canby to St. Cloud and Willmar, then east into northwest Wisconsin. Some of the snowfall totals included 20" at Askov in Pine County, 17.5" at St. Cloud and Willmar, and 10.8" at Chanhassen, the official snow measuring spot for the Twin Cities.

The first week of April continued the trend from March with below normal temperatures over most of the state. By the second week of April, temperatures had warmed up to above normal and ice was melting rapidly off lakes in central Minnesota. An historic mid-April heat wave set numerous records, including the highest temperature ever measured in Minnesota for the 15^th (93º F at Faribault), the earliest ever 90º temperatures for the state, and record high temperatures in more than three dozen communities, e.g., 80º at Hibbing, 81º at Grand Rapids, 82º at Aitkin and Little Falls, 84º at St. Cloud, 90º at Cambridge, Owatonna, Winona and Worthington, 91º at Mankato, Redwood Falls and the Twin Cities, and 92º at Waseca. Warmth continued through the following day, as new record highs were set at Grand Forks (87º F), Rochester (84º F), and the “Nation's Icebox” in International Falls where it reached 79º F at 4:31 P.M. on the 16^th.
Flip-flopping less than a week later, a winter storm brought up to a half-foot of snow to parts of Minnesota 21–22 April. Many communities from Duluth to the Iowa border saw at least a coating of crystals. The very next weekend, another system dumped up to a half-foot of snow over portions of central Minnesota 27–28 April. Observers reported waves of thunder snow on the evening of the 27^th with vivid lightning displays and crackling thunder. The 6" of snow recorded at Chanhassen pushed the monthly snowfall for the Twin Cities (20.2") into second place on the list of all-time snowiest Aprils since 1891, right behind the 21.8" in April 1983. Temperatures by the end of the third week of April turned colder, but it was also windy, so the ice-out line continued to move north. Though the first week of May remained cool, ice had left nearly all the lakes in Minnesota by the 9^th.
May was downright cold. All regions reported below normal temperatures, ranging from 3.9º below average in the Southeast to 7.2º below average in the Northwest.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Frank Nicoletti and Dave Carman for providing data from the West Skyline Hawk Count in Duluth, and Karl Bardon for data from the Hastings-Prescott Bird Count. I thank Kim Eckert for information about records recently evaluated by the M.O.U. Records Committee. Betsy Beneke, Dave Benson, and Anthony Hertzel summarized sightings called in to the M.O.U. “hotlines” in Detroit Lakes, Duluth, and the Twin Cities, respectively. Robert Janssen and Paul Budde compiled record early and late, and median dates. Paul also compiled the species accounts for flycatchers through finches. I thank Karl Bardon, Paul Budde, Anthony Hertzel, and Terry Wiens for comments that improved the accuracy and content of this report.