First county records for Ross's Goose and Cackling Goose were reported from Itasca this season. Another Cackling Goose was a first record for Koochiching.

Harlequin Ducks were found in Lac qui Parle and Cook in November. It was a good season for scoters. Away from expected locations in Duluth and Lake Superior, 24 Surf, 9 White-winged, and 12 Black scoters were reported. An adult male Barrow's Goldeneye may have been a returning visitor from prior years; it spent the latter half of November in Duluth.

A maximum of eight Red-throated Loons were seen in St. Louis from late October to late November. In contrast, only one Pacific Loon was found. It was also in Duluth. An Eared Grebe in Wabasha was unusual, while a Clark's Grebe discovered in Lac qui Parle in the summer was last seen on 1 August.

Five Snowy Egrets were the most for the fall since 2006. Most were in the West-central region, but one was as far east as Le Sueur. Two Little Blue Herons and six of the seven Cattle Egrets for the season were also in the West-central region. The only White-faced Ibis was photographed in Grant in August. Two other flocks of ibis in Lac qui Parle — 8 in August and 14 in mid-November — were prudently left unidentified.

A White-tailed Kite was photographed at Clay County's Bluestem Prairie in early August. This was the third record of this species in the state. Mississippi Kites were seen at Hawk Ridge and in Morrison — the latter a surprisingly late migrant in early October. Other late migrant raptors included two Swainson's Hawks in November, one of which set a new record. The only Ferruginous Hawk was one photographed in Yellow Medicine in mid-October. Prairie Falcons were found in Grant and Clay at the end of August, and then in Lac qui Parle at the end of the season.

Two Yellow Rails were detected on migration, in Hennepin and Lac qui Parle. Common Gallinules were seen in seven counties, as far north as Traverse.

The season produced first county records of Piping Plover for Itasca and Sherburne, along with another notable sighting in Nobles. In early August, a pair of Willets and the only Whimbrel of the season were found in Lac qui Parle. The shorebird highlight of the season was the very well-photographed, sixth state record Purple Sandpiper that took up residence in Swift for 13 days.

Duluth continues to be the best fall location in the state for larids. In September, a small flock of four Sabine's Gulls was found at Park Point. The only Iceland Gulls of the season arrived in Duluth in November, and three Lesser Black-backeds were also found at Superior Entry. Another adult Lesser was discovered in Hennepin, but it could not be refound the next day. Jaeger sightings were also limited to St. Louis County. A juvenile Pomarine was documented in early October. Four Parasitics and five unidentified jaegers were also seen in Duluth, from early September through early October.

Eurasian Collared-Doves provided three more first county records — in Becker, Douglas, and Le Sueur — as they continued their range expansion through the state. By season's end, Snowy Owls had been detected in 27 counties, prefacing an invasion that would continue into the winter. Disappointingly, no Northern Hawk or Boreal owls were found.

It was an exciting season for vagrant flycatchers. A Say's Phoebe summering in Yellow Medicine was still present in early August. A silent, first state record Tropical/Couch's Kingbird was discovered in a Duluth backyard in late October. On that same day a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was also in Duluth, while earlier in the month one in Wabasha provided a first record for that county.

The season's only Carolina Wren was found in Pine. Eight Townsend's Solitaires were reported; the first was quite a surprise in mid-September, while the rest showed up beginning in late October.

The Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (H.R.B.O.) fall migration count included counts from both Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve (H.R.N.R.) and a location near the mouth of the Lester River (The Loon 84:8–20). These counts, led by Karl Bardon and referenced in this summary as the Hawk Ridge / Lester River Census, provided a good number of high counts of passerines. Among them were two days during which between 35,000 and 40,000 American Robins were censused.

Varied Thrush began appearing in the state in mid-November; by season's end five had been found. The only Northern Mockingbird was an early September bird in Lac qui Parle. Though the first Bohemian Waxwings showed up much earlier than usual, the total number of individuals was low and reports away from the Northeast region were few.

Three Smith's Longspurs were record early in Sibley, while a flock in Lac qui Parle in mid-October was more expected. While most Hooded Warbler sightings were from traditional locations in Scott and Dakota, migrants were also found in Anoka and Hennepin. A Cerulean Warbler at Miesville Ravine in Dakota may have been a lingering breeder, but a migrant at Cedar Lake in Hennepin was a notable surprise. A Bay-breasted Warbler found in Grand Marais at the end of October was over a month later than the long-term median departure date. Of the ten Black-throated Blues found on migration, eight were in Hennepin, including one in late October and a male in early November. A Yellow-throated Warbler photographed at a feeder in Crow Wing provided a first record for that county. And to round out a good fall for warblers, a Yellow-breasted Chat was photographed in Pipestone in early September.

Male Spotted Towhees were photographed in both Steele and Crow Wing counties. Other notable reports of sparrows included a record high count of Field Sparrows and much more widespread reports of Grasshopper, Henslow's, Nelson's, and Harris's sparrows than we usually see in the fall. Summer Tanagers were found in different counties in each month of the season. Reports of Blue Grosbeaks from 12 counties were unprecedented, besting the prior high county count for fall of only five.

Record high numbers of Rusty Blackbirds were counted in Duluth in late September. An immature male Scott's Oriole found in Cook was the fourth state record of this species. It was found two days after the Tropical/Couch's Kingbird was discovered in Duluth. A Gray-crowned Rosy Finch was also in St. Louis at about the same time.

Pine Grosbeaks first showed up in the state in the Northeast in late October; by mid-November one was photographed south in Washington. Crossbill reports were mostly confined to the North. Red Crossbills were rare, except that they were reported regularly from the Hawk Ridge / Lester River Census from mid-October through mid-November. The only south report was of a lone individual in Lac qui Parle. White-wingeds made it south to the Sherburne N.W.R. and to St. Paul. Though no Hoary Redpolls were reported, a high count of over 16,000 Common Redpolls from the Hawk Ridge / Lester River Census was quite impressive. An Evening Grosbeak photographed in Lac qui Parle was the only individual to wander away from the northern third of the state.

Weather summary: While temperatures in August and September were near normal, in October and November they were 4º to 6º F above the historical average, making those months among the warmest on record. All four months were much drier than the norm. For the season, precipitation totals in the southern counties were less than 3", a departure from the long-term average of 5"–9" and the driest autumn on record. By the end of the season, the Northeast had 4"–6" of snow cover, while the rest of the state had less or was snow-free.

Undocumented Reports: Eared Grebe 11/4 Mille Lacs (unusual location); Western Grebe 9/16 Lake (out of range); Swainson's Hawk 11/12 Hennepin (late date); Short-billed Dowitcher 10/3 Morrison (late date); Great Black-backed Gull 10/27 Carver (unusual location); Yellow-billed Cuckoo 10/11 Cook (late date); Loggerhead Shrike 10/22 Washington (late date); Northern Shrike 10/5 Kandiyohi (early date); Blue-headed Vireo 8/1 Goodhue (early date); Common Raven 11/12 Houston (out of range); Tufted Titmouse 9/10 St. Louis (out of range); American Pipit 8/21 Dakota (early date); Lapland Longspur 8/1 Rice (early date); Orange-crowned Warbler 8/1 Goodhue, 8/26 Sherburne (early dates); Connecticut Warbler 8/5 Ramsey, 8/26 Blue Earth (2) (early dates); Cerulean Warbler 8/21 Hennepin (rare in fall); Yellow-rumped Warbler 8/1 Ramsey (early date); Fox Sparrow 9/10 St. Louis (early date); Dickcissel 11/11 Dakota (extremely late south).

Acknowledgements: We thank Anthony Hertzel, Jeanie Joppru, and Jim Lind for providing transcripts of Minnesota's weekly birding reports. Special thanks to Dave Cahlander for building and maintaining the seasonal reports submission web page (http://moumn.org/moureports/season.php). Medians of recent arrivals and departures are based on published and unpublished seasonal report data from 1985 through 2008. Finally, and most importantly, our appreciation goes out to all our contributors. We are especially grateful to those who respond to our requests for details and to those who submit observations online.