Mild winter weather that continued through March undoubtedly contributed to a spring migration that was quite early this year. This was especially apparent for waterfowl, shorebirds, and sparrows.

A pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in Le Sueur County during the latter half of May was the eleventh state record of this species. Mute Swans were more frequently encountered than usual, with most reports from counties along the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. The lone Cinnamon Teal was a drake found in Lac qui Parle State Park in late April. A female Harlequin Duck was seen over a three-week period at the Knife River Marina in Lake County. Scoter reports were also few. A drake Surf Scoter was in Steele County for two weeks in early May, and three were seen on Lake Superior during the same period. White-winged Scoters were only found in St. Louis County, both on Lake Superior and away from the big lake on Bear Island Lake. Black Scoters were undetected, if present. The only Long-tailed Duck away from Lake Superior was on Long Meadow Lake in Hennepin County where it was enjoyed by many during its two-week layover.

The most intriguing representative of the Galliformes reported was a Greater Prairie-Chicken in Pipestone County. Eurasian Collared-Doves continued their expansion into Minnesota. This spring saw new county records for Anoka, Pine, and Red Lake counties, leaving only nine with none.

Shorebird migration through Minnesota was exceptionally early this season. Of the 30 regular spring species, 26 arrived south and 23 arrived north earlier than 25-year medians. On average, south arrivals were a full week early, and north arrivals were six days early.

With reports of Black-necked Stilt from both Grant and Lyon counties this season, this species now has been documented in 12 of the past 14 springs. Three Piping Plovers in as many counties provided the best spring showing of this species since 2009 when at least seven individuals were found. Whimbrels were reported from five locations in the Central and Northwest regions, for a total of 28 individuals, while the three Northeast reports — where the species is more expected — were all of single birds. An alternate-plumage Red Knot provided a first record for Wilkin County in late May. A record-early Baird's Sandpiper was photographed at the Sleepy Eye W.T.P.; the three earliest dates for this species are now from 2012, 2015, and 2016.

In spring, jaegers show up about every other year in Duluth; this year a lone Parasitic was found at the end of May. Three Little Gulls also made their way to Duluth, all at Minnesota Point. Six south reports of Thayer's Gull — all in the southeastern quarter of the state — was surprising, as this species is infrequently detected south in the spring. An Iceland Gull was in Scott County in late March. Sherburne County got its first record of Lesser Black-backed Gull when up to three — a record high tally for this species — were found at Lake Fremont in late April.

Red-throated Loons were seen in five counties including, for the first season ever, reports from three south counties. One remarkably early individual was discovered in Crow Wing County on 10 March. Two Pacific Loons were found this spring. One was where one might hope for one, in Duluth off Park Point. The other, however, was a totally unexpected first record for Rock County.

Two Glossy Ibis records were the first for Yellow Medicine and Traverse counties and represented the ninth and tenth records for this species in Minnesota. All ten have been between mid April and mid May, and eight of the ten have been in the last ten years. The total of 96 White-faced Ibis was the second highest seasonal tally ever, only surpassed by the 157 of spring 2013.

The seventh state record for Black Vulture came from the Bethany Hawk Watch in Blue Earth County. Apart from the first of this species in fall 2001, all have been from the spring season. Snowy Owls were present in typical numbers for spring and departed the south and north regions near their 25-year medians. For only the second spring in 25 years, no Northern Hawk Owls were found in the state, while a Burrowing Owl in Wilkin County was the first for that species in the last five years. The two overwintering Gyrfalcons in Duluth-Superior that seemed to spend most of their time in the Badger State were last seen in Minnesota 21 March.

A push of passerines into the state in mid April provided a record early north Great Crested Flycatcher in Duluth and two record early Blue-headed Vireos near the Twin Cities. Two Say's Phoebes were found at Felton Prairie, probably the best location in the state to search for this species. Male Mountain Bluebirds were seen by many in Sherburne and Dakota counties, both in March. Seven Townsend's Solitaires was a good total for the season. Two Varied Thrushes were found, including a first record for Red Lake County and an individual that overwintered in Beltrami County until mid April.

Fifteen Northern Mockingbirds was the highest total reported in a season since 21 were found in spring 2006. Large numbers of Bohemian Waxwings migrated past the West Skyline Hawk Count site at the end of March. Only a few lingered north past mid April, all in St. Louis County. The 13th and 14th state records of Eurasian Tree Sparrow were of one in East Grand Forks and two in Eagan. The latter was the eighth in the last ten years.

Another early migrant for the season was American Pipit, which was found south almost two weeks earlier and north over three weeks earlier than the median. The movement of winter finches around the state this spring was not particularly noteworthy; perhaps the most interesting observation was of a well-documented Evening Grosbeak that crossed the Red River from Fargo, ND, into Moorhead. A total of 17 Smith's Longspurs were found as they clipped the southwestern corner of Minnesota during their mid-April migration.

In mid May, a Worm-eating Warbler was discovered in the Cannon River Wilderness Area. While it might have been expected that a Yellow-throated Warbler would show up at Whitewater State Park for the fourth consecutive year, it was very surprising that two paired up and nested at Gold Medal Park in downtown Minneapolis (The Loon 88:84–85). Two records of warblers proved to be first county records: a Kentucky in Fillmore and a Hooded in Steele County.

Sparrows also arrived notably earlier than in recent years. Dates of first appearances averaged eleven days prior to median arrivals south and seven days early north. Henslow's Sparrows were found more widely than in any spring in recent history. They were already in ten counties by the time their typical arrival date passed. White-crowned Sparrows were another example of early migrants. In addition to an apparent lone migrant in Hennepin County that was 39 days early, this species was already present in six south counties prior to their expected arrival date. In Cook, St. Louis County, a male Lark Bunting provided the state's 18th record of this Great Plains species since 2000; surprisingly, 11 of these have been found in the Northeast region.

Five Summer Tanagers were discovered in the state, all during the second week of May. Western Tanagers were in Lac qui Parle and Kandiyohi counties in the last week of April. A Blue Grosbeak in late May was a first for Steele County. Great-tailed Grackles continued to expand ever so slowly out of their stronghold in Jackson County. This season they were found in four southwestern counties, including a first record for Redwood. For the first time, Baltimore Orioles were reported from all 87 counties.

Weather: March was a warm month in Minnesota, with average temperatures well above historical averages in much of the state for the seventh consecutive month. In April cooler than normal temperatures at the beginning and end of the month balanced warmer than normal temps mid month to result in monthly averages near normal. In early May temperatures rose into the mid-90s as far north as Lake County, only to be followed by frost across much of the state and even snow flurries in some regions by mid-month.

Precipitation totals were quite variable each month, with some areas above normal by two inches and others below by nearly the same. Major events included a rain/snow mix in mid March that fell on North-central and Northeast Minnesota, and a major snow event that resulted in four to twelve inches of snow across the southern third of the state on 23 March.

Insufficiently documented records of Regular species: Ruffed Grouse 4/22 Carver, 4/23 Waseca (both out of range); Sanderling 4/1 Scott (early migrant); Least Sandpiper 3/30 St. Louis (early migrant); Semipalmated Sandpiper 4/16 Grant (early migrant, description didn't rule out Baird's Sandpiper); Great Black-backed Gull 3/26 Scott (Casual away from Lake Superior); Common Tern 4/19 Blue Earth (early migrant); Golden Eagle 5/18 Hennepin (late migrant); Prairie Falcon 4/26 Swift (rare statewide); Eastern Wood-Pewee 4/13 Renville, 4/17 Hennepin (early migrants); Say's Phoebe 5/21 Becker (rare, no details); Western Kingbird 5/27 Fillmore (out of range); Northern Shrike 4/8, 4/22, 4/25 Waseca (late migrants, possible confusion with Loggerhead Shrike); Yellow-throated Vireo 3/22 Anoka (very early migrant); House Wren 3/12 Morrison (very early migrant); Wood Thrush 3/26 Dakota, 4/15 Dakota (very early, easily mis-identified migrants); Black-throated Blue Warbler 5/19 Mahnomen (out of range, potential first county record); Chipping Sparrow 3/10 Douglas (very early migrant); Henslow's Sparrow 3/13 Rice (very early migrant); White-crowned Sparrow 3/6, 3/16 Todd (early dates, no suggestion of overwintering).

Acknowledgements: 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 (http://moumn.org/moureports/season.php) 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, accessed June 2016). Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished seasonal report data from the 25-year period 1990 through 2014. Finally and most importantly, our appreciation goes out to all our contributors. We are especially grateful to those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.