The state’s fifth Bullock’s Oriole and seventh Townsend’s Warbler highlighted this season in which 318 species were reported. In addition to those two Accidentals, the list of Casual species found was long, and many were represented by multiple records — Eurasian Wigeon (two records), Black-necked Stilt (three), California Gull (three), Glossy Ibis (two), Barn Owl (one), White-eyed Vireo (one), Mountain Bluebird (three), Eurasian Tree Sparrow (three), Kentucky Warbler (one), Yellow-throated Warbler (six), Painted Bunting (two). Not to be outdone, several Rare-Regular species were found in record numbers.

Early northbound geese began arriving in Minnesota at the very end of February and were reported in the northern half of the state after the first week of March. Two drake Blue-winged X Cinnamon Teal were found in the second half of April; since this hybrid is so common in the state, special care should be taken to document any apparently pure Cinnamon Teal found. A drake Eurasian Wigeon provided a first record for Becker County, while another graced Pelican Lake in Wright County for two days. A tally of 15,000 Greater Scaup at Park Point in Duluth was record-high. Two Harlequin Ducks were in Grand Marais until early May; another was found along the Rainy River in late May. Scoters were sparse in Minnesota this season. Surfs were found on Lake Winona and in Duluth, three White-wingeds were in St. Louis County, but Blacks were absent.

A first county record of White-winged Dove for Polk was also record early for the state by nine days; another was a second record for Blue Earth County where it appeared in the same yard as the first one did in May 2017.

An Eastern Whip-poor-will calling in Morris provided a first record for Stevens County. Record early Virginia Rails were discovered at three different Hennepin County locations. Common Gallinules made an excellent showing, with reports from seven south counties, tying the most ever for the spring season.

Four Black-necked Stilts in three counties, including first records for Cottonwood and Freeborn, extended the spring streak of this species to nine seasons. Piping Plovers are found in an average of 1.5 counties each spring. This season produced six individuals in seven different counties, including a first record for Freeborn County — an outstanding tally for the season. During spring, Whimbrels are more readily found in the northern half of the state than south. This is true even if one ignores data from the Lake Superior shoreline, which is the best place to look for them in this season. This year, Whimbrels were found in a record ten counties, two south and eight north. A flock of 210 Willets in St. Louis County smashed the previous high count for the northern counties in the state (40, Agassiz N.W.R.) and provided the second highest count ever statewide.

The only jaeger for the season was a light-morph adult at Park Point in late May. Several gull species were found north in notable concentrations — 1,200 Franklin’s Gulls at Agassiz N.W.R., 20,000 Ring-billed Gulls at Interstate Island W.M.A., and 2,000 Herring Gulls at Park Point. Three reports of California Gulls, including a first for Scott County, matched the total for this species over the entire prior ten spring seasons. Iceland Gulls (mostly Thayer’s) were only found in five counties around the Twin Cities and Duluth. Lesser Black-backeds appeared in 11 counties, the most ever for any season. On the other hand, Great Black-backeds were only seen in Duluth, where now they’ve been seen every spring for 13 years.

South reports of Red-throated Loon average one every two years, so individuals in both Rice and Sherburne counties were nice discoveries; all north reports came from St. Louis. Three Snowy Egrets was the lowest spring total since 2015, while one Little Blue Heron in Grant was average for a spring season. Cattle Egrets were widely reported southwest of a line from Polk to Dakota counties.

The movement of Plegadis ibis through Minnesota this season was spectacular, only surpassed by spring 2013. The state’s 12th and 13th records of Glossy Ibis were found in Jackson and Watonwan counties, the latter a first for that county; all but one of these 13 records have been in spring. White-faced Ibis were record early south in Lyon County and in record high spring numbers in Jackson County. Their presence in 18 south counties was the most ever; only spring 2013 saw a more widespread presence when they were located in 17 south and 9 north counties. Only the second apparent hybrid of these two species was found this season, the first being also in 2013.

A Barn Owl discovered deceased in Corcoran was only the second record for Hennepin County; the first was in September 1965 and prior to the establishment of the state’s records committee. Two additional reports from Houston County are still pending before that committee. Snowy Owls were the scarcest they’ve been in any spring since 2011. Northern Hawk Owls were found in Aitkin, Hubbard, and St. Louis counties during the first half of March, then none until individuals were reported from Lake in late May. Lake County also hosted a Great Gray Owl in late May — a possible breeder? Only one Boreal Owl was detected, in late March along the Gunflint Trail in Cook County.

Prairie Falcons were reported during the first week of March from both Rock and Rice counties; the latter report was a county-first. Six reports of Say’s Phoebes was triple the average number reported in recent spring seasons; this year’s individuals provided first records for Isanti and Stearns counties. A White-eyed Vireo in Carver Park Reserve was the only record for this species.

Common Ravens were found in 16 south counties — double the average over the prior ten spring seasons; one in Kandiyohi was a county-first. As ravens expand southward, Tufted Titmouses are heading in the opposite direction and provided Kanabec with a first county record this season. Carolina Wren reports were also up; their eight south reports set a new high total for spring.

Mountain Bluebirds were found in Becker, Clay, and Yellow Medicine. A Townsend’s Solitaire in early March at the Sand Dunes State Forest was not unexpected as they often overwinter there, but one in Duluth at Park Point in late May was extraordinary. The only Varied Thrush found was in Anoka County in late March. This season’s three Eurasian Tree Sparrows didn’t quite match last spring’s four, but one of them did provide a first record for Fillmore County.

Among the lingering winter finches, Pine Grosbeak and Common Redpoll numbers were quite low, and no Hoary Redpolls were found. It was a good, though not great, year for both crossbills. Smith’s Longspurs were seen in three counties, which is only slightly below average; what was notable about them was that their window of occurrence in the state was so narrow this year — only a five-day period in mid-April.

Spotted Towhees were seen in Morrison and Lyon counties, and an apparent Spotted X Eastern towhee hybrid was photographed in Blue Earth County. Spring 2019’s third and fourth state record of Bullock’s Oriole was followed by another this season in Crow Wing County. Great-tailed Grackles have been increasing their foothold in the southwestern corner of the state recently; this season one was as far north and east as Meeker, a first record for that county.

Warblers also produced a number of first county records, including Prothonotary Warbler for Martin, Connecticut Warbler for Sibley, Hooded Warbler for Aitkin, and Pine Warbler for Cottonwood County. A Kentucky Warbler at Camden State Park was only the second record for Lyon County. Yellow-throated Warbler numbers in the southeastern quadrant of the state continued to grow and this year produced first records for Benton, Chisago, and Isanti counties. Perhaps the best warbler found this season was the state’s seventh Townsend’s Warbler in late April, a first for Washington County.

Twenty-eight Summer Tanagers was the highest season-tally ever in Minnesota and included a first record for Koochiching County. Seven Western Tanagers couldn’t quite match spring 2019’s eight, but it was still well above the recent average of five and included a first county record for Fillmore. An apparent Rose-breasted X Black-headed Grosbeak was nicely photographed at Forestville State Park. Two male Painted Buntings were found in May, one a first record for Big Stone County. With these records, there have now been 30 Painted Buntings found in the state — almost all adult males, a few immature males, and none identified as a female. Are we missing half of the Painted Buntings that visit Minnesota? (For the quibblers, there is one record of a female from 1893, but Roberts passed that bird off as an escaped cage bird due to feather wear. See The Loon 37:150 for more on that story.)

Weather: March began with above normal temperatures in the south and below normal in the north, including a month-low of -30ºF in Cotton on 2 March. That low was followed by the month’s high, 64ºF, only a week later in the Southwest. April was cooler than usual, in part due to near-record lows experienced mid-month in parts of the state. May saw a strong warming trend as the statewide average temperature for first half of May was 5.8ºF below normal, while the second half was 2.3ºF above normal.

March monthly precipitation totals, most of which occurred in the second half of the month, were generally above normal across the eastern half of the state and below normal in the Northwest. A storm brought strong winds and heavy rain south and snow north on 28–29 March. In the first days of April a strong cold front brought heavy snow and ice to the Northwest. Another storm brought 6–7 inches of snow to central and southern parts of the state on 12 April. A low pressure system that crossed the state 16–17 May brought soaking rains, including 2.9 inches to the Twin Cities. In spite of this event, precipitation totals for the Twin Cities were near normal, in contrast to well above normal totals for the Southeast and below normal levels for northern Minnesota.

Documented reports still under review: Barn Owl 3/11, 4/25 Houston (Perkins Valley).

Insufficiently documented records of Regular species: Cinnamon Teal 4/22 Morrison (no details; Blue-winged Teal X Cinnamon Teal is not an unusual hybrid in Minnesota); Short-billed Dowitcher 4/30 Steele (early date; see The Loon 89:160–161); American Woodcock 3/7 Todd (early north date); Northern Shrike 5/12 St. Louis (season’s latest by three weeks); Swainson’s Thrush 4/12 Meeker (very early); Grasshopper Sparrow 3/24 Hennepin (record early by two weeks); Clay-colored Sparrow 3/31 Washington (also record early; description doesn’t rule out winter Chipping Sparrow).

Acknowledgments: With this report Bill Marengo is stepping down from his position as a co-author of the spring and fall Seasonal Reports. In addition to his other services to the MOU, Bill has been writing these reports since the Fall 2005 report — a fifteen-year tenure, for which we are extremely grateful. 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. We are also grateful for the additional data provided for the creation of this report by eBird (http://www.ebird.org, accessed June 2020). Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished Seasonal Report data from the 25-year period 1995 through 2019. 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.