The season provided four Accidental species for Minnesota as lingering King Rails and a Western Wood-Pewee from summer were augmented by an unidentified Selasphorus hummingbird and a Vermilion Flycatcher. A Red Phalarope on Lake Superior made it four consecutive autumns in which this Casual species has been found. The movement of Red Crossbills that first developed in August produced the most widespread documented eruption of this nomadic species in Minnesota.

One Snow Goose summered in Polk County, but another early August individual in Duluth appeared to be an early migrant as none were noted from this region in summer. At Lac qui Parle State Park a huge flock of geese was estimated to have had a remarkable total of 4,000 Cackling Geese. Pipestone had been the only county in Minnesota without a record for Tundra Swan, but that drought ended in mid-November. Five Harlequin Ducks, including a first record for Carver County, was an above-average fall total. Chisago, Scott, and Todd counties joined the three North Shore counties in hosting all three species of scoters this season. Hubbard and Douglas counties had their first Black Scoter, and Kanabec its first Long-tailed Duck. No Barrow’s Goldeneyes were detected for the fourth consecutive fall; the status of this species had been considered Casual until the 2014 Checklist, when it was changed to Regular.

First records of Eurasian Collared-Doves for Clearwater and Cook counties leave only five counties to be scoured for first records of this species. A record-early south Yellow Rail in Lyon was also a first for that county, while Freeborn County also picked up its first record of this uncommonly found migrant. The family of King Rails discovered during the summer at the North Ottawa Impoundment continued there through mid August, as did a pair of Black-necked Stilts.

From 1998 through 2008, one or more Whimbrels had been reported each fall, but then this string dried up and no fall individuals were reported through 2016. Finally, in 2017, one was reported from the Park Point Recreation Area. The Albany W.T.P. in Stearns County is an excellent location to monitor for unusual shorebirds during migration; this season a Red Knot was discovered there in early September. At the end of November, record-late Baird’s Sandpiper and Sanderling were found still straggling through the state. For the fourth consecutive fall, a Red Phalarope was discovered, providing the third record for Lake County.

Jaeger reports — all Parasitics — spanned the period from the end of August until early October; all were found along Lake Superior in St. Louis County. In Washington County a first-cycle Black-legged Kittiwake was a nice surprise. Four Sabine’s Gulls graced the state. Little Gulls tend to be more common in spring than in fall, but they were recorded every fall from 1997 through 2010 except for one year. Since then, however, they’ve only been seen in fall 2015, and none were again reported this season. Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were well-represented, but Great Black-backed Gulls were absent this fall for the first time in over a decade.

Red-throated Loon reports peaked in the latter half of October. A Pacific Loon found at Brighton Beach in Duluth in late August was record-early by two weeks; elsewhere on Lake Superior, this species was widely seen until mid November.

Snowy and Cattle egrets were found in numbers typical for fall, with most reports from the southwestern quarter of the state; the only exception was a Cattle Egret discovered in Grand Marais. White-faced Ibis tallies were higher than is typical and included an exceptional October record in Olmsted.

A juvenile Broad-winged Hawk lingered in Duluth into the winter season to set a new record-late date for the state. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory set a single-day fall high count record for North America when 322 Rough-legged Hawks were counted on 25 October. With no fall reports since 2010, it was a good season for Ferruginous Hawks, with two Accepted reports and two more still pending before the Records Committee.

An Eastern Screech-Owl in Chisago was a first record for that county. Snowy Owls were found north and south well before recent median arrival dates. Northern Hawk and Great Gray owls were found in modest numbers, while Short-eareds were more widely distributed than in any fall in over a decade. The only Boreal Owls discovered were the three banded at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve.

American Three-toed and Black-backed woodpeckers made an impressive southbound movement along the North Shore from mid October through mid November. Peregrine Falcons were more widely reported than in any other fall season on record. Prairie Falcons were documented in both Stearns and Yellow Medicine counties in late August.

The Western Wood-Pewee discovered in the summer at Buffalo River State Park was last reported on 26 August. An Eastern Wood-Pewee photographed in Two Harbors was record-late for the state on 15 October. Say’s Phoebes were observed in two West-central counties, Clay and Lac qui Parle. The sixth state record Vermilion Flycatcher was a first county record for Yellow Medicine and the earliest date for this species; all records of this species have been from the fall season.

A record-late Warbling Vireo was photographed in Lake County. Carolina Wrens made a strong showing as they were seen in eight counties, including an unusual find in Lake and a first record for Becker that remained for over a month to the delight of county listers. One Mountain Bluebird was in Clay County, while up to three were seen in Two Harbors. Approximately 19 Townsend’s Solitaires were found in eight counties; most reports came from the North Shore of Lake Superior. The season’s only Varied Thrush was located in Bemidji. For only the second fall season since 1995, no Northern Mockingbirds were reported.

Most winter finches appeared in typical numbers, but Common Redpolls were much more widespread than usual with reports from 60 of 87 counties. Even more impressive was the number of Red Crossbills, which staged their largest documented irruption ever. They were found in 58 counties, including a record high single-day count of 1,269 at Stoney Point along Lake Superior. Interestingly, fall 2012 was another excellent season for both of these species. In contrast with Red Crossbills, White-winged Crossbills were not nearly as irruptive, though their presence in six south counties was the most for this region since 2012.

Smith’s Longspurs are regularly found in October in the southwestern part of the state; this season saw additional records from Pennington, Lake, and St. Louis counties. Another record in Renville was a first for that county. Five Spotted Towhees were found, including two in Hennepin and one in Ramsey counties. In nearby Anoka County, a putative hybrid Spotted X Eastern towhee was photographed. Two of the latest Grasshopper Sparrow reports for the season were also among the most northerly, with one each in Lake and St. Louis counties in mid October.

A Yellow-breasted Chat was quite late and far north in Otter Tail County in late September. Great-tailed Grackles were found only in usual locations in the Southwest. A Hooded Warbler at Two Harbors in early October was, like the chat, late and far north of its usual range; this one also established a first record for Lake County. The single-day record-high tally for Palm Warblers was smashed by counters at Stoney Point with 604 on 27 September, only for them to break their own record at the same location with 809 on the following day. Also notable was their near-record total of 10,329 Yellow-rumped Warblers at the same location in late September.

Blue Grosbeaks continue to expand their range in Minnesota. This season saw first county records for Beltrami and Kandiyohi, plus out-of-range breeding in Hennepin and Scott counties.

Weather: Statewide average temperatures were several degrees below normal in August, but above normal in September, due in part to a late heat wave that passed through the state 21–24 September. Temperatures cooled towards the end of October when many in the state had a first taste of winter that lingered well into November, but the monthly statewide average temperatures even in these last two months was above normal.

Precipitation totals in the state bounced back and forth from above normal in August and October to below normal in September and November. Two heavy rain events in mid August were notable, as was a cold front that passed through the state on Labor Day and brought stormy weather. Early October saw two heavy rain events during its first week and a storm 27–28 October that produced persistent wind gusts in excess of 50mph to the Lake Superior shoreline, and dropped up to a foot of snow in some areas. By contrast, November was quite dry.

Documented Records Still Under Review: Ferruginous Hawk 8/22 Wilkin (Wolverton Twp.), 10/23 St. Louis (juvenile, light morph; H.R.N.R.).

Insufficiently Documented Records of Regular Species: White-rumped Sandpiper 8/8 Carver, 8/8 Chisago, 8/10 Lyon (early dates); Short-billed Dowitcher 9/25 McLeod (late date); Bohemian Waxwing 10/25, 10/29, 11/9, 11/12 (out of range in a non-invasion year).

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 2017). 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 2016. Our appreciation goes out to all our contributors, especially those who respond to our requests for details and who submit observations online.