Greater White-fronted Geese migrated through in above-average numbers this season. Only the second fall record of Brant in almost thirty years lingered in Two Harbors for five days. A female Harlequin Duck found in the northeast corner of Duluth late in November stayed into the winter. All three scoters were found more widely than usual for the fall, and were well-represented not only along the North Shore but also in southern counties. For the third consecutive autumn, no Barrow's Goldeneyes were seen in the state.

In addition to the state's two discontinuous populations of Sharp-tailed Grouse in the northwest and northeast, birds have been reported sporadically south in the West-central region since 2002. This season, a pair in Yellow Medicine County continued that pattern. These birds likely wandered across the border from South Dakota, where there is a population in the northeast corner of that state.

Prior to 2003, Minnesota had had only two records of White-winged Dove. Since then, this species has been found every year except 2013. This season, a first record for Anoka County provided 2016's only report. A well-documented adult female Rufous Hummingbird stayed from mid October into the winter season at a feeding station in Isanti County. This marked the fourth consecutive year this species has been documented in Minnesota.

Another species becoming more common in the state is Black-necked Stilt. Birds found in the summer continued into the fall season in Big Stone and Jackson counties; migrants were also discovered in Blue Earth County in early September and mid October. There were several August reports of Red Knot this season from the North Ottawa Impoundment in Grant County and from Duluth. A flooded field in Carver County became the site of the state's long-awaited first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper when a juvenile was found in September. This cooperative bird lingered for almost a week. Remarkably, a second juvenile was noted here in the middle of this sojourn. And in mid October, long after the Sharp-taileds had departed, the state's 20th Red Phalarope was discovered in the same field! Almost a week later, another Red Phalarope was found at the Cook W.T.P. in northern St. Louis County. Fall 1993 was the only other season with two reports of this phalarope.

A first-cycle Black-legged Kitiwake was photographed in Two Harbors in early November. For the 14th consecutive fall, one or more Sabine's Gulls were reported, including a record-late migrant in St. Louis County. Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls that showed up in September were both adults; subsequently, there were no reports of this species until late October, after which almost all the birds were aged as first-cycles.

Red-throated Loons were first found in late September, peaked with seven in early November, and were last found at the end of that month. All were seen on Lake Superior, apart from a first record for Lake of the Woods County. In contrast, Pacific Loons were found on Lake Superior in Lake and St. Louis counties between late October and late November. A frigatebird fortuitously seen flying over Ramsey County in late August was the state's fifth record of this genus — only one of which has been identified at the species level.

There is only one record of Little Blue Heron in the northern half of the state after August, so reports of this species in Marshall and Pine counties in early September were noteworthy. Four Yellow-crowned Night-Herons was the highest seasonal total for this species in twenty-five years. Twenty-five Plegadis circling in Traverse County and 24 White-faced Ibis at Miedd Lake in Yellow Medicine County were the two highest fall totals ever. A White-faced Ibis in Grant County was record late for the northern half of the state.

Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned hawks each represented slightly more than one-third of the total of 66,369 raptors tallied by the counters of the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory this season. For sharpies, that total was 40% above their recent 26-year average for this count, but Broad-wingeds were down 47%. Several kettles of Swainson's Hawks over Kandiyohi County that totaled 60 birds were notable as this species is rarely found in the state in such numbers.

Single Northern Hawk Owls were found in late November in Aitkin and Itasca counties. Reports of Boreal Owls from Cook and St. Louis counties were the first fall records of this species since 2009 — apart from a very unusual record of one in Hennepin County in 2014.

The state's second Acorn Woodpecker — which was just as uncooperative to birders as was the first — was photographed in Becker County in mid September. Prairie Falcons were seen in late August and late October, both in the Southwest region.

A pair of Say's Phoebes at the Cottonwood W.T.P. provided a first record for Lyon County. On October 20, a very late migrant swallow flew past H.R.B.O. It was carefully scrutinized as the timing suggested it might be the state's first confirmed record of Cave Swallow, but it was determined to be a Cliff.

The first Tufted Titmouse for Jackson County could just as well have found its way there from this species' stronghold in central Iowa as from the southeast Minnesota population. Carolina Wrens were in three locations in Dakota and Goodhue counties. Record numbers of Ruby-crowned and near record numbers of Golden-crowned kinglets were tallied in mid October as part of the Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census.

A male Mountain Bluebird was in Anoka County in early October. Nine Townsend's Solitaires and three Varied Thurshes were fairly typical numbers for fall. A Eurasian Tree Sparrow in Two Harbors provided a first record for Lake County, to join prior records in the Arrowhead region from Cook and St. Louis counties. A Sprague's Pipit was discovered at the Heron Lake W.M.A. in Jackson County, the seventh state and fifth fall record of this species since 2000.

Reports of Evening Grosbeaks from the Northeast and North-central regions were augmented by south reports from Washington County in late October and Dakota County in mid November. Redpoll numbers were down. Only four Common Redpolls were detected south, and not a single Hoary was seen statewide. Red Crossbill observations were fairly consistent throughout the season. The Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census recorded them on 40 days and saw peak movements between mid October and mid November. White-winged numbers increased significantly after mid October, but reports were limited to the northern half of the state.

Smith's Longspurs were found at opposite corners of the state, with one at the Park Point Recreation Area in Duluth, six in Yellow Medicine County, and three at the Red Rock Prairie S.N.A. in Cottonwood. The lone Spotted Towhee for the season was in Lac qui Parle County in mid October. LeConte's Sparrows were found in a record total of 40 counties, including 31 in the southern half of the state; one in Murray County near the end of August was likely a record-early southbound migrant. A Golden-crowned Sparrow in Duluth was presumably the same individual that has been found at the same feeding station in 2014 and 2015. This season, it was much more difficult to find, however, and it has likely expanded its wintering territory in Duluth's Lakeside neighborhood. Whereas Jackson County has been the traditional stronghold for Great-tailed Grackles in the state, they are becoming more difficult to find there. The season's only reports came from Cottonwood, Yellow Medicine, and Faribault counties.

It was a good migration for Black-throated Blue Warblers, as they were seen more widely than in any previous fall. Records came from as far west as Otter Tail and Lyon counties, and Watonwan got its first record. The Hawk Ridge/Lester River Census tallied an incredible 11,435 Yellow-rumped Warblers during a single day in early October. This was three times as high as the prior record day count. Over a three-day period, their total was 18,211 individuals. Another perspective on this number is that the Broad-winged Hawk one-day high count for the season was only 8,163 birds.

A first-year male Summer Tanager was discovered in Owatonna in mid-September. Minnesota's fourth fall Western Tanager was in Douglas County in August. Blue Grosbeaks continued their expansion out of the southwest corner of the state. They were found in many counties bordering the Minnesota River upstream of Mankato and produced first records for both Big Stone and Swift counties.

Weather: The fall season continued the warmer than normal pattern that Minnesota has seen since September 2015. Though the statewide average temperature was only 1.2ºF above normal in August, it was just over 3º above normal in September and October, and a whopping 10º above normal in November, making 2016 the second warmest November in the past 120 years.

Precipitation in August continued the wet pattern established the prior July, as the state departure from normal was +2.29" — about the same as July had been. These averages diminished as the season progressed, as totals for September were only 1.3" above normal, and levels in October and November were only slightly above normal. Major storms passed through the southern third of the state in August and September, each dropping over five inches of rain on some localities. October and the first half of November, in contrast, were more calm, though that quiet ended when a blizzard with gale-force winds from the southwest brought 25" of snow to southern Cass County on November 18th.

Insufficiently Documented Records of Regular Species: White-rumped Sandpiper 8/12 Grant, 8/14 Lac qui Parle (early dates); American Pipit 11/26 Cook (late date); American Tree Sparrow 8/14 Meeker (early date); White-crowned Sparrow 8/8 Beltrami (early date); Rusty Blackbird 8/22 Todd (early date).

Acknowledgments: We thank Jeanie Joppru and Jim Lind for compiling and providing transcripts of Minnesota's two 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 2016). 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 over the 25-year period 1991 through 2015. Our appreciation goes out to all our contributors, especially those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.