Both Greater White-fronted and Snow geese were unexpectedly found in early August, individuals with apparently interrupted northbound migrations. A family of Ross's Geese along Mille Lacs Lake provided a first record of this species for Crow Wing County; Chisago County also saw its first record. Another unusual August waterfowl record was a Greater Scaup that had oversummered in Duluth and was last seen in early August.

Any fall with an eider in Minnesota makes for a good season, so a King discovered in Cook County at the start of November was a great find. But it was quickly eclipsed when Karl Bardon, in the midst of a snowstorm, located two Common Eiders off Brighton Beach in Duluth, and then Bob Myers found a third Common in Lake County. These were the first Common Eiders seen in Minnesota since 1966! And unlike the King which could not be refound after the day of its discovery, all of the Commons lingered for a few days, and one even took up residence in Duluth for much of the winter.

Duluth had sporadic reports of a female/immature Harlequin Duck from late October to late November, presumably all representing the same individual. There was only one record of Surf Scoters away from Lake Superior, but both White-winged and Black scoters were detected in the West-central, Central and East-central regions — in addition to the many reports of each along the North Shore. A single Red-throated Loon was found off Park Point in mid-October. Reports of a Pacific Loon on Mille Lacs Lake two weeks apart in October possibly referred to the same individual. Another Pacific was well documented in late November on Lake Superior in Duluth.

At the beginning of August a subadult Wood Stork was discovered in Washington County. Providing a third state and first fall record, this was clearly a different individual from the stork present in Faribault County during the summer season. But aside from the stork, it was a mediocre season for waders in the state, with only four records of Snowy Egret, one of Cattle Egret, and no Little Blue Herons or Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. White-faced and Plegadis ibis only totaled eight individuals, and all reports came from the West-central region.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory tallied 59,809 raptors this season, which is close to the ten-year running average. While no species were counted in record numbers, Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks all had their second best season ever. On the other hand, counts of Ospreys and American Kestrels continued to be below-average. The Bethany Hawk Watch in Mankato also counted impressive numbers of Bald Eagles, a notable tally of five Swainson's Hawks, and a number of late south raptors.

News of many juvenile Common Gallinules from six counties was evidence that this species continues to make a resurgence in the the state. Almost 8,800 Sandhill Cranes provided a record count for Sherburne N.W.R. Numbers at this staging area have been growing steadily over recent years.

The shorebird highlight of the season was the state's eighteenth Red Phalarope, found in Mower in late October. Upland Sandpiper and Hudsonian Godwit provided notable high counts this season. An American Avocet in Pine County and a Willet and Wilson's Phalarope in Hennepin County provided record or near-record late departure dates when discovered in late October.

All jaeger reports were from Duluth where an early Parasitic was discovered at the end of August. All other reports were from the last week of September. Sabine's Gulls went undetected in the state for the first fall since 2002. A Mew Gull in Hennepin was the first in 16 years, and also the first for the southern half of the state. California Gulls show up in the fall about once every two years; this year a first-cycle was found at the Superior Entry in St. Louis County in mid-October. All reports of Thayer's, Iceland, Lesser Black-backed, and Glaucous gulls this season were from Lake Superior (chiefly Duluth) or the Twin Cities metropolitan area. (See The Loon 68:14–34 for a discussion of fall gull migration in the Twin Cities.) Duluth also had at least two Great Black-backed Gulls during the latter half of November.

A juvenile Least Tern in Rock County was later seen with an adult for the first fall record of this species since 1998. Though few in number, White-winged Doves have been almost annual in the state since 2003, absent only in 2013. This season's representative provided a first record for Kandiyohi County.

Snowy Owl numbers were above-average, as they arrived north at the end of October and south by mid November. Northern Hawk and Great Gray owls were only found in the northernmost tier of counties, so it was especially surprising that the only report of a Boreal Owl came from Hennepin County, where one was discovered in a tree cut down as part of a land-clearing project.

Two adult male Rufous Hummingbirds were found at feeders in the southern half of the state. Images confirmed that they were indeed different individuals. This was the first year since 1992 with multiple reports of this species. American Three-toed Woodpecker numbers continue to be down. This season only one was reported — from Beaver Bay in Lake County. Black-backed numbers were also low.

Another highlight from Hawk Ridge was the sighting of the fifth H.R.B.O. record of Prairie Falcon. Frank Nicolleti was able to capture and band this individual — his third near Duluth! Another Prairie Falcon was documented in Clay County in early November.

A Say's Phoebe east of Mora was a first for Kanabec County. Lake County hosted a Great-crested Flycatcher and a Western Kingbird in late October; for both species these were near record-late north departure dates.

Spring and summer records of White-eyed Vireo, a Casual species, outnumber fall records by ratios of 4 to 2 to 1, respectively, so one discovered at Seven Mile Creek C.P. in Nicollet County was particularly noteworthy. This same park also produced the season's high counts of Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Philadelphia, and Red-eyed vireos.

Recently, the range of Tufted Titmouse in the state has shown a minor expansion to the north and west; reports this season continued that trend. Both Townsend's Solitaire and Varied Thrush showed up in typical numbers for the fall. The Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census tallied record high numbers of Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush, and near-record numbers of Swainson's and Hermit thrushes.

For the first fall since 1995 there were no reports of Northern Mockingbird in Minnesota. Bohemian Waxwings rebounded from their abysmal showing the prior fall, but totals were still less than half those of 2012. Both reports of Smith's Longspur this season were from the Southwest region in late October; the total tally was only 13 birds.

The Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census counted record or near-record numbers of many species of warblers, including Black-and-white, Tennessee, Nashville, American Redstart, Cape May, Blackburnian, Palm, Yellow-rumped, and Black-throated Green. There were two records of Casual sparrows this season, both from the Northeast region. A female or immature Lark Bunting was unexpectedly discovered along the Old Gunflint Trail in Cook in mid-September. Near the end of the season a Golden-crowned Sparrow took up residence in Duluth where it remained for most of the winter.

One Summer Tanager, a female visiting a feeding station in Hennepin, was an average total for the fall. Blue Grosbeaks were well-represented this season by many reports away from their typical southwest range. Another species slowly expanding in the state, Great-tailed Grackle, provided a first record for Swift.

Winter finches rebounded nicely from their pitiful showing the prior fall to numbers closer to those of an average season. The Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census tallied impressive numbers of Purple Finch, Common Redpoll and Pine Siskin on several days. But the good numbers were limited to the northern half of the state, as the only unexpected winter finches found south were two lone Red Crossbills.

Weather: Rainfall during August was variably, with some regions experiencing above-average, and others below-average amounts. After a major storm 3–4 September that produced upwards of 3" of rain and hail in central Minnesota, totals throughout the state were below-average until mid November when a storm through central Minnesota produced over ten inches of snow on 10 November, and another on 26 November when four to eight inches of snow fell in the southern third of the state. Temperatures in August through October were near historical averages, but this changed in November when temperatures dropped to six to ten degrees (F) below the long-term climate averages.

Insufficiently documented records of Regular species: Swainson's Hawk 11/9 Pine (very late date; observers did provide many details, but not enough to conclusively identify the bird); Sabine's Gull 10/16 Polk (late date and first county record); Orange-crowned Warbler 8/20, 8/27 St. Louis, 8/22 Ramsey, 8/28 Pennington, 8/31 Isanti (early dates without details; see species account).

Acknowledgments: We thank Anthony Hertzel, Jeanie Joppru, and Jim Lind for compiling and providing transcripts of Minnesota's three weekly birding reports. Special thanks to Dave Cahlander for building and maintaining the seasonal reports submission and production web pages 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 December 2014). Bruce Fall has been extremely helpful by providing additional information from eBird data. Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished seasonal report data from 1985 through 2013. Our appreciation goes out to all our contributors, especially those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.