Some blame it on a volcano, others suspect a new ice age is coming... whatever the reason, global warming was put on hold once again in Minnesota. For the second straight year the birds and birders of the state experienced a cool summer. In contrast to 1992, however, this summer was wet! As everyone well knows, extensive flooding occurred throughout much of Minnesota. The Minnesota River hit its highest water levels since 1969. After it was all over, more than half of Minnesota's 87 counties (mostly in the south and west) were declared disaster areas. Surely this extreme weather had a major impact on both birds and observers. One would guess that nesting success was greatly reduced, and that birders found it difficult to get out as much as usual.

June was much cooler than normal throughout the state. Temperatures were two to five degrees below average for every region. The thermometer rarely hit 90° anywhere in the state. As mentioned, the month was extremely wet, although not in all regions — the northwest and north central received about average rainfall, and the northeast was actually a bit below normal. In contrast, the hard-hit southwest recorded totals that were almost seven inches above average!

July was very similar to June, although the weather was spread out a little more evenly statewide. It was very cool with temperatures remaining below 90° until the very end of the month. The rain continued to fall; every region recorded above normal precipitation.

No fewer than 94 observers (roughly the same number as in recent years) submitted seasonal reports and/or breeding information for the summer. A total of 265 species was observed, about the same as the previous ten-year average of 266. Contributors sent in 942 nest or brood cards, even more than last year and the most since 1986. Good work! Breeding data were collected for 165 species, also the highest total since 1986. Special thanks go to the members of the Hiawatha Valley Audubon: Margaret Boller, Andy and Joyce Buggs, Marian and Walt Carroll, Gwen Goetzman, Anah and Howard Munson, Marian and Albert Schloegel, Carol Schumacher, Kay Shaw, Rick Swanson, and Jo Anne Thiesse. The HVA volunteers contributed 87 nest/brood cards from Winona Co. Other top contributors of breeding information included Mark Newstrom/Jean Segerstrom (151), Russell Hofstead (117), Karl Bardon (65), Jack Sprenger (59), and William Longley (52). As always, a hearty thanks to all contributors for your excellent efforts. Each sighting and breeding record is important — keep up the good work!

The most unusual species to appear this summer was surely the American Dipper discovered along the Temperance River in northeastern Minnesota. Unfortunately, the bird was belatedly reported so it is not known how long it was present. This represents the second verified record for this accidental species in the state; the first, in 1970, was at the same location! Beyond the dipper, four casual species were reported this season; Clark's Grebes were seen in both Traverse and Meeker counties (it seems likely this species will eventually be considered regular), Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were spotted at Duluth and in Hubbard County, a Black-headed Grosbeak made a short appearance in Jackson County as well, and up to three Baird's Sparrows were singing at the Felton Prairie in Clay County.

Other observations of note included a pair of Red-throated Loons on Lake Superior in mid-summer (the status of this species has recently been changed from casual to regular, but a summer record is still unusual); Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, and Surf Scoter lingering on Lake Superior into early June; three separate sightings of Ferruginous Hawks in western Minnesota and one Rough-legged Hawk in Aitkin County; a decline in Ruffed Grouse (to be expected) and a decline in Gray Partridge (for unknown reasons); an unusually high number of Yellow Rail records including discoveries in St. Louis, Pine, and Cook counties; the encouraging report of nesting Piping Plovers at Lake of the Woods; the nesting of American Three-toed Woodpeckers in St. Louis County (only the third documented nesting record for the state); a hybrid nesting of Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers in Becker County, well northwest of the usual Blue-winged Warbler range; and the continued explosion of House Finches into all corners of the state.

As mentioned earlier, it seems likely that the massive flooding had a profound impact on many species, but if so, no pattern was apparent in the seasonal reports. The number of species for which reports were significantly up was roughly the same as the number for which reports were down. A few waterbirds, such as Cattle Egret and Hooded Merganser, were more abundant; others, such as Pied-billed Grebe, were less common. Despite the abundance of shallow water, shorebird reports were generally average to below average (perhaps all that ideal habitat made locating them difficult). Other species for which reports declined were diverse; some examples include Osprey, Gray Partridge, Black-billed Cuckoo, Bank Swallow, Yellow Warbler, and Grasshopper Sparrow. The same can be said for those that were up; examples are Wild Turkey, Sandhill Crane, Black-billed Magpie, Winter Wren, American Redstart, and Lark Sparrow.

As always, there were a few species conspicuous by their absence. No Horned Grebes or Red-necked Phalaropes were reported this summer; both species were recorded in all but one of the past 13 years. For the second straight year both Boreal and Burrowing owls were not reported. The lack of Boreal Owl reports is merely due to the difficulty in detecting the species during June and July, but the lack of Burrowing Owl reports reflects the sad fact that this species has been all but extirpated from Minnesota; in fact, the status of the species has recently been changed from regular to casual. Mountain Bluebirds, present (and breeding!) the past three years, were not observed this summer. Other missing species that have been reported in seven or more of the past ten summers were Tundra Swan(!), Black-bellied Plover, American Golden-
Plover, and Whimbrel.

The format for the species accounts is the same as the past several years. The key to the seasonal reports is shown below. Breeding records are classified based on the criteria found in The Loon 58:22 or in Minnesota Birds, p.7 (Green and Janssen 1975). Counties for which positive breeding is documented for the first time since 1970 are in italics and identified as such according to updated versions of Janssen and Simonson's breeding maps (The Loon 56:167–186, 219–239 and 57:15–34). Divisions of the state into regions (e.g. west central, southeast) are based on those delineated in Birds in Minnesota, p.25 (Janssen 1987).

A final thanks to all of the summer season reporters who make it possible to document avian distribution and migration. Thanks also to Peder Svingen for his assistance in preparing this report.