For the third consecutive winter, temperatures throughout most of the winter were well above normal, especially the first three weeks of December, which were as much as 19 degrees above average, and the last week in February, which was as much as 25 degrees above average. Most of the state remained snow-free until late December, and some areas were snow-free until mid-January. Although more typical snow depths were seen throughout most of Minnesota during the last half of January and the first half of February, by the end of the period the entire state was snow-free again, and drought conditions were reported in some areas.

Casual/Accidental Species

Several Casual and Accidental species were seen this winter — but most remarkable of all was the Pacific Loon (a Regular species that has never before been recorded in Minnesota during winter) picked up near Marshall in early January and then later released; unfortunately, the bird died shortly thereafter, probably killed by a predator. One can only wonder where this bird had come from before it crash-landed in Lyon County!

For hundreds of observers, the highlight of the season was a potential first state record Tufted Duck enjoyed at the Blue Lake sewage treatment plant in Scott County. Although there was much debate about its age and sex, there was no indication of hybridization with other Aythya, which is always a concern when evaluating extralimital records of this species. A local aviculturist eventually came forward with the news that the bird was probably one of the individuals that had escaped from his collection, and as a result the Minnesota Ornithological Records Committee voted not to accept the sighting due to questionable orgin.

The state's thirteenth King Eider, first found during the fall season, lingered through 9 December near Grand Marais, thereby becoming only the third winter record of this species. Eurasian Collared-Doves are becoming a permanent part of Minnesota's avifauna: overwintering birds were reported in New Ulm, Willmar, and Fairmont, although thus far the only documentation that has been received and accepted refers to the birds in Fairmont. The state's third Curve-billed Thrasher overwintered at a feeder near Breckenridge, Wilkin County, consistent with a recent pattern of individuals possibly belonging to the T. c. palmeri subspecies occurring in the northern prairie regions during the winter. Perhaps even more surprising, the state's eighth Sage Thrasher was reported in late February. Lastly, a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch made sporadic visits to a Wilkin County feeder.

Lingering December Migrants

As with last winter, the mild temperatures in December allowed a long list of species to linger longer than normal — especially waterbirds, since many lakes did not completely freeze until mid-month. The immature Black-crowned Night-Heron seen in Bloomington was only the fourth winter record in the last twenty years. Despite the large number of waterfowl present in December, there were fewer reports of sea ducks than last year. The only exception was four species of sea ducks reported from Mille Lacs in December: Surf and White-winged scoters, Long-tailed Duck (Long-tailed Duck), and Harlequin Duck, the latter an immature male lingering from the fall season for over a month. A Sora found on the Battle Lake CBC represents only about the fourth winter record for the state and the first in the north. Late migrant Sandhill Cranes were noted in Stearns and Morrison counties; there are only five previous winter records.

Peak migration of Thayer's Gulls often occurs in December, and Dakota County remains the best place to observe this species — this year's peak was a record 13–14 birds on 14 December. Nevertheless, it was a poor season for rare gulls. Diligent scanning of the gull hordes in the Twin Cities and along the North Shore only produced two Iceland Gulls at Grand Marais, the usual Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Twin Cities, and a Great Black-backed Gull at Knife River. More interesting was the documentation of an apparent second-winter “Nelson's Gull” at Duluth, only the third report of this hybrid (Glaucous Gull X Herring Gull) in the state.

Two more winter Marsh Wrens were added to the state's six previous records, but neither was documented as overwintering. Three species of warblers were reported, highlighted by a well-described and record-late Wilson's Warbler in St. Paul, representing the state's first winter report. Also noteworthy was a lingering Cape May Warbler in Duluth, but there was (surprisingly) only a single Yellow-rumped Warbler. Other late passerines of interest included two Gray Catbirds, two Northern Mockingbirds (both along the North Shore), a Savannah Sparrow on the Cottonwood CBC, and an injured adult male Yellow-headed Blackbird in Renville County.

Overwintering Reports

There were several reports of unusual overwintering geese. A single Greater White-fronted Goose overwintered at Fergus Falls; the only previous such record for the state was from Rochester in 1968–69, although additional winter records from this location since that time may also have represented overwintering birds. Following last winter's report of a Ross's Goose lingering at Faribault into December, another (or the same?) was found this winter at Rochester, where it provided only the fourth overwintering record of this species.

Minnesota's winter swan nightmares have only just begun! At least 640 Trumpeter Swans were reported from 15 counties throughout the state, perhaps making this the default species in many locations, but other swan species are possible throughout the state and at any time during the season. Lingering Tundra Swans were especially widespread in December, while four Mute Swan were reported from a variety of dates and locations. In most cases, documentation of these winter swans was unconvincing.

Several Ring-billed Gulls may have overwintered at the western end of Lake Superior, since there were several reports in Duluth and Knife River during mid-winter. There are only a few previous overwintering reports, all from the Twin Cities (including one at Black Dog Lake this season), and no previous mid-winter records from the North Shore.

Mild winters continue to be conducive to the rare Carolina Wren; the four reports included one overwintering in Otter Tail County. Steve Carlson continues to find Swamp Sparrows lingering in the Minnesota River Valley in Hennepin County; a minimum of 12 were found in January, at least two of which overwintered. A Field Sparrow was also found overwintering here. Meadowlarks were more widespread than usual; the most unusual report was a small flock which overwintered in the snowless fields of Rothsay WMA, Wilkin County. Even more surprising, a very large flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds overwintered at Pine Bend, Dakota County — the peak count was 185 birds!

Early Migration in February

Many observers noted a huge movement of birds into the state during the period 24–29 February. Temperatures in the 60s were reported at many locations during the last week of February (including a high of 67 degrees at Pipestone), and many lakes in southwestern Minnesota started opening up by the end of the month. Although there is often modest migration in late February when temperatures are warmer, this season's surge was unprecedented.

It is usually difficult to determine early dates for most species of waterfowl because of overwintering birds, but the immigration of multiple flocks into many south locations was unquestionable this season! By season's end, most species of waterfowl were reported from many south locations in numbers which are more typical of late March. Observers reporting early arrivals of ducks are encouraged to report exact numbers in order to further differentiate them from overwintering birds.

The early movement of geese was perhaps the most dramatic, with cumulative reports of 802 Greater White-fronted Geese, 3,019 Snow Geese, 101 Ross's Geese, and thousands of Canada Geese. The magnitude of white-fronted goose migration in late February was greater than some recent spring migrations, and the flocks of Ross's in Jackson and Nobles Counties on 27 February were not only the earliest-ever migrants, but also included the largest-ever flock (though this record was broken shortly thereafter during early March). With only one exception, this movement of geese was confined to southern Minnesota: a record-early flock of Snow Geese was reported on 27 February from the Sax-Zim bog in St. Louis County — talk about pushing the season! Not to be outdone, a very early flock of 14 Tundra Swans arrived in Houston County on 29 February.

The earliest movement of ducks seemed to be 21–22 February in Cottonwood County, with noteworthy arrivals of Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Redhead, and Bufflehead, followed by small flocks of various species in Winona County on 24 February. These included 76 Gadwalls, 2 Northern Shovelers, 1 Northern Pintail, 7 Green-winged Teal, 20 Canvasbacks, 2 Redheads, 1 Ring-necked Duck, 38 Lesser Scaup, 9 Hooded Mergansers, and a Ruddy Duck, most of which were believed to be early spring migrants, as none had been reported overwintering in the area. Other noteworthy arrivals included 92 Northern Pintails in Otter Tail County on 27 February, Greater Scaup in several locations beginning on 26 February, and a single Red-breasted Merganser in Washington County on 29 February.

Early migration was not just confined to waterfowl. Dozens of Killdeer moved into the state during the same time period. Starting on 24 February, a steady stream of Ring-billed Gulls and smaller numbers of Herring Gulls moved up the Mississippi River into southern Minnesota; Ring-billeds had even reached Duluth by month's end. Eastern Bluebirds were not reported overwintering, which made their movement into the state in late February quite dramatic — several were even reported from the north, which was record early. Finally, thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds and hundreds of Common Grackles moved into the state, and with these large numbers of blackbirds were a few flocks of Rusty Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Raptors

Many raptor species were counted in record numbers. The number of Northern Harriers was truly impressive! In the last twenty years, the average number of reports per winter has been only seven, and as recently as 1996–97, there was none; this season's number was eighteen times higher than this average! Very large numbers of Red-tailed Hawks overwintered in southern Minnesota, including an adult dark morph Western race in St. Paul. This is undoubtedly the same individual that had been found as an immature at this same location last winter, since there is only one previous winter record of any dark morph Red-tailed Hawk in Minnesota. The record number of Golden Eagles precluded listing all reports as had been done in the past.

Like last winter, northern owls were seen in average to below average numbers, while unusually high numbers of Long-eared and Short-eared owls were reported. The near-record number of Long-eared Owls was once again due mostly to efforts by Anthony and Paul Hertzel. They concentrated on Washington County during this winter's searches and discovered 20 individuals. Since Short-eared Owls occupy similar habitat and have a similar prey base as harriers, it wasn't surprising that this species was also found in record numbers — the only difference was that nearly all Short-eared reports were from the second half of winter. Anthony Hertzel and Peder Svingen conducted a nocturnal owl survey on 27–28 February along the Stoney River Forest Road in Lake County; they recorded 2 Boreal, 3 Great Gray, 2 Long-eared, and 13 Northern Saw-whet owls, which brought the total number of saw-whets reported this winter to a record number.

Boreal Invaders

With only a few exceptions, this was not a good winter for boreal invaders. Great Gray and Northern Hawk owls were reported in only average numbers within their normal winter range, while the total of eleven Snowy Owls was much lower than usual. American Three-toed Woodpeckers were reported in above average numbers, and Black-backed Woodpeckers were found in record high numbers (due mostly to a high count on the Isabella CBC), but neither species strayed out of the coniferous zone. Except for the number of redpolls, the winter finch flight was unremarkable. Common Redpolls were widespread in modest flocks, while Hoary Redpolls were reported from a disproportionately large number of locations.

Summary

A total of 161 species was found, which is one short of the record set during winter 1994–95. A total of 54 CBCs was submitted, counting 367,836 individuals of 132 species -— both are record highs. The CBC data are fully incorporated into this report; also, for the first time, a spreadsheet showing the cumulative CBC data for each species during the last nine years is included (data from 1993–94 are missing). As with last winter, the CBC threshold of 70 species was reached at both Bloomington and Winona; each recorded 73 species.

Acknowledgments

Peder Svingen reviewed this report and made many helpful suggestions. Betsy Beneke, Kim Eckert, and Anthony Hertzel provided data called in to their respective hotlines.