The state’s first Limpkin, fourth Black Rail and Wilson’s Plover, and a Neotropic Cormorant returning to a small park south of Minneapolis for the third consecutive year highlighted this spring season in which 324 species were recorded. In addition to these Accidentals, 14 Casual species were discovered, some of these represented by multiple records: Eurasian Wigeon (2), Black-necked Stilt (14!), Red Knot (2), Red Phalarope, Glossy Ibis (2), Mississippi Kite, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Mountain Bluebird, Eurasian Tree Sparrow (4), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Yellow-throated Warbler (4), and Painted Bunting. Twenty-seven of these records were the firsts for their respective counties.

Snow and Cackling geese migrated into the state in late February, while Ross’s and Greater White-fronteds first appeared in early March. For the first time ever, Trumpeter Swans were reported from all 87 counties. Drake Cinnamon Teal were found in Big Stone, Jackson, Lac qui Parle, Stearns, and Stevens counties, while Freeborn and Winona hosted apparent hybrids with Blue-winged Teal. Eurasian Teal were discovered in Lincoln and Stearns counties. A pair of Harlequin Ducks lingered from the winter in Grand Marais until late April, while others were seen in Two Harbors and at multiple locations on or near Lake Superior in St. Louis County. A Surf Scoter in Steele County and a White-winged in Chisago were the only scoters found away from St. Louis County.

Wild Turkeys were observed in 85 counties and Eurasian Collared Doves in 75; both tallies were all-time records for any season. The season’s only White-winged Dove was found in Winnebago, Faribault County. The ten counties where Common Gallinules were seen was the highest spring total ever for this species. Migrant Yellow Rails were discovered in Blue Earth and Hennepin counties; the former was a first for that county. A Black Rail found in Anoka County was also the fourth record for the state. At the very end of the season, Minnesota’s first Limpkin was discovered at the Paul Hugo Farms W.M.A. in Washington County. This location is about 185 miles farther north than any other Limpkin in the eBird database (through April 2022).

An incredible 20 Black-necked Stilts were seen in ten counties, including firsts for Carver, Sherburne, Sibley, and Washington. Six Piping Plovers was an excellent tally for this species, and also produced a first county record for Steele. The state’s fourth Wilson’s Plover was discovered in Duluth in mid-May; remarkably, all prior records of this species have also been from Duluth.

Several shorebirds were record-early or near record-early migrants south, including Hudsonian Godwit, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Long-billed Dowitcher. Ruddy Turnstone, Stilt Sandpiper, and White-rumped Sandpiper were near record-early north. First county records among the shorebirds were a Whimbrel in Yellow Medicine and a Willet in Hubbard. With the first sighting in Pennington County in over 30 years, Red Knots — a borderline Casual species — have now been seen in eight of the last nine spring seasons. A Red Phalarope in Todd County was this species’ fourth spring record.

Several Parasitic Jaegers were identified in St. Louis County between mid-May and the end of the season. Iceland Gulls seen were predominantly the Thayer’s subspecies; the only Kumlien’s was reported from Duluth in mid April. Spring Lesser Black-backed Gull records have been steadily increasing since around 2015; this season saw reports of about 17 individuals. There were scattered reports of Great Black-backed Gulls in March and April, all from Duluth.

In late April, Red-throated Loons were discovered in Benton and along the Dakota/Goodhue county border; subsequent reports were all from St. Louis County and continued into the summer season. The only Pacific Loon reports were from Park Point, for a week in mid May.

In 2019, a Neotropic Cormorant was found at a small park in Richfield, just south of Minneapolis, in late July. In 2020 two Neotropics were seen in the same park, the first one having arrived in early June. This season presumably one of the same Neotropics was first seen in late April. Many of the state’s long-legged waders provided first county records, including Snowy Egret (Cass, Pennington), Cattle Egret (Pennington), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Freeborn), Glossy Ibis (Steele, Stearns), and White-faced Ibis (Pipestone, Pine). Additionally, a Plegadis unidentified to species was the first of its genus to be found in Morrison County.

Another first county record was a Mississippi Kite seen in Lyon County. The only Northern Hawk Owl and Boreal Owl of the season were found in the Sax-Zim Bog in early March. In early April, a Great Gray Owl was discovered a few miles northeast of Stillwater; it lingered in the area for three weeks and was enjoyed by many.

The Lewis’s Woodpecker first noticed in Morrison County on New Year’s Eve was sporadically seen at the same location through the end of April. American Three-toed Woodpeckers were found in St. Louis and Lake of the Woods counties, while Black-backed Woodpeckers were reported from six northern counties.

A Prairie Falcon in Mankato was only the second record for Blue Earth County. Another second county record was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Aitkin in early May. Though not reported as frequently as during the prior spring when individuals were found in six counties, Say’s Phoebes still made an impressive showing this season in four counties, especially in the West-central region. A White-eyed Vireo in Scott was the second record for that county, while Tufted Titmice provided first records for Renville and Watonwan counties.

A Bohemian Waxwing in McLeod County in early March was the only south report of this species. Carolina Wrens, in contrast, produced their best spring ever with records from 11 south counties. An adult male Mountain Bluebird that entertained many in St. Paul during the winter lingered through the first week of March. The North-central region had only its second Eurasian Tree Sparrow when one was photographed in April in Leonard, Clearwater County; this, along with three south records of four individuals made this a good season for this slowly increasing species.

Evening Grosbeaks were more widespread in the north than usual, but none was found south. A Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch in early March was a first for Le Sueur County and the 22nd for the state. Hoary Redpolls were limited to the northern half of the state. White-winged Crossbills were more widespread than in any spring since 2009. This was probably the best season ever for Lapland Longspurs, which were found in 71 of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Smith’s Longspurs were limited to five counties in the southwestern quarter of the state.

Two Spotted Towhees noted during the previous winter lingered until mid March. A third individual was found in Spicer in early May. Additionally, two apparent hybrids with Eastern Towhee were documented, also in early May. In one of the more remarkable discoveries of the season, researchers from the University of Minnesota mist-netted a Yellow-breasted Chat at Itasca State Park, providing a first record for Clearwater County.

Prothonotary Warblers ventured farther north than usual and produced a first record for Douglas County, and the third and fourth records, respectively, for Otter Tail and Pine. Also found farther north than usual were Yellow-throated Warblers, which provided second county records for Crow Wing and Chisago.

Summer Tanager numbers were slightly below the totals for the spring seasons of 2018 through 2020, but those had been exceptional years; first-year males were by far the most frequent plumage encountered. Western Tanagers were seen south in Stearns, Kandiyohi, and Olmsted counties; the only north report was from East Grand Forks. For the fifth year in a row, a pair of Blue Grosbeaks established their territory at an athletic field in Eden Prairie. A male Painted Bunting at Carleton College was the 33rd record of this species in the state, all but one were males.

Weather: High temperatures in the 50s and 60s (ºF) in early March presaged a very warm month that averaged 7.4º above normal. By the end of the month it was in the low 80s in some West-central areas. The unseasonal warmth lasted into April, though a cold mid-April brought the average temperatures for April to near-normal. May also saw a series of warm and cold spells with temperatures hitting 95º early in the month in Granite Falls and Sherburn (Martin County). The last night of below-freezing weather was 11 May.

An early spring storm produced lightning and large hail in southern Minnesota and 6–12 inches of snow to the Northeast on 10–11 March. Another event 23–24 March brought significant rain to the Southwest through East-central regions, while the Northwest remained quite dry throughout the month. An unsettled ten-day period 5–15 April brought rain and warmth to much of the state, including 4–6 inches of precipitation around St. Cloud. In general, May was much quieter, though a moist air mass crossing the state on 19–20 May caused seven small tornados in the south and generated heavy rain in the Northwest — that region’s first significant rainfall of 2022.

Insufficiently documented records of Regular species: Short-billed Dowitcher 4/22 Blue Earth, 4/25–26 Watonwan, 4/30 Jackson (all reports prior to 5/1 require details); Red-eyed Vireo 3/28 Ramsey; Gray Catbird 3/17 Ramsey; Baltimore Oriole 3/28 Ramsey; concerns about all of these reports were the early dates.

Acknowledgements

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 was 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 June 2021). Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished seasonal report data from the 25-year period 1995 through 2019. Weather data is from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s HydroClim Minnesota newsletter (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hydroclim/index.html). 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.