The fall of 1976 was a record breaker in many categories. The number of species reported, 290, was five greater than the record of 285 in 1975. 72 observers submitted report forms plus many others sent in miscellaneous notes on unusual sightings.

This is contrasted with 48 reports in 1974 and 63 reports in 1975.

The weather, as usual, deserves comment. The dry weather of summer continued into the fall. Most marshes of the western part of the state were dry by August. Many small lakes also went dry and most other lakes throughout the state saw their levels down many feet. There were many forest fires which resulted in large areas being closed to hunting, fishing and camping. September and October were colder than normal. Why, with this type of weather, were there so many record late dates and so many reports of rare birds? I cannot answer my own question.

There were reports of no less than 15 casual or accidental birds. Duluth again was the leader with reports of a Gyrfalcon, Pomarine Jaeger, Great Black-backed Gull, Mountain Bluebird, another November record for northern Minnesota of the Worm-eating Warbler, and a Summer Tanager.

In addition, many Parasitic Jaegers were seen, a number of observers saw the Harlequin Ducks that stayed around in late October and early November, and a Lark Bunting was seen.

Hawk Ridge saw the banding of four Boreal Owls, a record number of Sharp-shinned Hawks (over 20,000), and an increase in Peregrine Falcon sightings (25). Further up the shore of Lake Superior there was an unusual fall sighting of the Whimbrel.

Not to be out done, Mille Lacs Lake provided the second state record for three birds: California Gull, Red Phal arope, and the Black-legged Kitti ·wake.

The western counties did not take a back seat to either Duluth or Mille Lacs. The first state record of the Curve-billed Thrasher came from Rock County. There were Ruff records from both Lyon and Otter Tail Counties. Wilkin County provided the first record of the White-tailed Kite.

In addition there were two Whitefaced Ibis in Big Stone County, a Ferruginous Hawk in Chippewa County, and a Snowy Egret in Marshall County.

Lark Buntings were seen in Cottonwood County. The Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge reported large peaks of almost all species of ducks.

Another unusual record was the King Eider shot in Todd County. (See Notes of Interest).

The dry conditions in northern Minnesota apparently precipitated the unprecedented invasion of Gray Jays into both the southern and western parts of the state. These same conditions probably explains the lack of winter finches. There were no Whitewinged Crossbill reports and only two Red Crossbill reports.

The format of this report is basically the same as in past years with one exception. Initials of observers have only been used with boldface dates and where all reports are listed. The dates in boldface are those dates that, according to Green and Janssen's book, are outside the unitalicized record late or early dates given. You will note more boldface dates than ever which I think reflects more birders out in the field and reporting what they see.

Because the job of compiling this report is getting much more time consuming, we would appreciate two things: (1) because we are not using county numbers anymore please write 139 Fall 1977 the county name; and (2) if at all possible those observers reporting from both north and south data should try to use a different color pen or pencil for each area.

Although I was responsible for this report, without the help of Kim Eckert in compiling and typing this report I would not have been able to wade through all the data.