Highlights of the 2014 summer season included five Red-throated Loons off Park Point, St. Louis County, in early June. Also notable were fifty-two Eared Grebes on Salt Lake in Lac qui Parle County in late July. Possibly the biggest event of the summer was the second state record immature Wood Stork that spent several days in mid-June on a farm near the town of Blue Earth in Faribault County. It was originally found by the landowner, and viewed by many during the time that farm access was permitted.

Least Bittern was found for the first time in Pine County, in the middle of June. Also in June, Snowy Egrets visited three counties in the West-central part of the state. A Little Blue Heron was found in Washington County at the very beginning of the period. Cattle Egrets had a good showing, with reports from eight counties. White-faced Ibis were reported from Grant and Dakota counties very early in the season, and Common Gallinule was found in five counties.

The pair of Black-necked Stilts first found nesting at the Herman W.T.P. in Grant County at the end of the spring season, providing a first state nesting record, persisted until mid-June, when high winds and heavy rain apparently destroyed the nest. Twenty-five American Avocets in Stevens County was a high count, and the county was also host to 41 Upland Sandpipers late in the season. Whimbrels put in an appearance in diverse portions of the state, with single individuals seen in Clay and St. Louis counties in early June and a single individual in Faribault County in late July. A Red Knot was late at the Park Point Recreation Area, St. Louis County, on June 3.

A Eurasian Collared-Dove provided a first county record for Hubbard County in middle June. A report of ten Whip-poor-wills from near Orrock in Sherburne County was encouraging. The Lower Island Conservation Area of Prairie Island in Goodhue County was productive on June 4 with 23 Eastern Wood-Pewees, 20 Great Crested Flycatchers, 14 Yellow-throated Vireos, 32 Warbling Vireos, and 55 Yellow Warblers counted. A fall-out on Park Point, St. Louis County, on June 2 yielded 37 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 82 Alder Flycatchers and 54 Red-eyed Vireos. Bell’s Vireos were found in six counties during the season.

Tufted Titmouses were found in five counties, about the same number as in recent years. Sax-Zim Bog, St. Louis County, hosted at least seven Golden-crowned Kinglets in late June. In the Murphy-Hanrehan P.R., Scott County, 24 Wood Thrush breeding territories were found as well as 20 Hooded Warbler territories. Northern Mockingbirds were found in Cook and Washington counties in June and in St. Louis County in July. A maximum of six Chestnut-collared Longspurs were reported from the usual location at Felton Prairie in Clay County. An excellent find and record late migrant was the Smith’s Longspur on June 2 at the Coast Guard Station in Grand Marais, Cook County.

Vermillion Bottoms in Dakota County hosted five Prothonotary Warblers in mid-June. Black-throated Blue Warblers were reported from their usual haunts in the Arrowhead region. Yellow-throated Warblers continued from the spring season in Mantorville, Dodge County, and Whitewater S.P., Winona County. A Spotted Towhee continued from spring into early July at Buffalo River S.P., Clay County. The male bird appeared to be paired with a female eastern Towhee, and was frequenting the same area where this species has been found for the past two years. In early June, Lark Sparrow was reported from Lincoln County for the first time. Twenty Henslow’s Sparrows were found in Afton S.P., Washington County, in late June.

There were Summer Tanager reports both early and late in June in Washington County. Blue Grosbeaks were found in seven counties in the southwest portion of the state, as far east as Blue Earth County. Yellow Medicine County enjoyed its first Eurasian Tree Sparrow record in early June, seen by many.

Weather Summary: Average monthly temperatures in June were quite close to historical averages throughout most of the state. In July, average monthly temperatures were two to three degrees (F) below the historical averages in most regions. Notable was the paucity of 90-degree temperatures days during the month.

With a state-averaged monthly rainfall total of 7.75 inches, June was Minnesota's wettest month of the modern record. In much of the state, local rainfall ranked in the 95th percentile for the month. During July the state began to dry out as precipitation totals were light throughout much of the state. In parts of the Southwest and South-central, monthly rainfall totals were less than one inch.

Insufficiently documented reports: White-rumped Sandpiper 7/26 Lac qui Parle (early date); Parasitic Jaeger 6/8 Lake (record late date); Hermit Thrush 7/19 Washington (out of range); Harris's Sparrow 6/5 Washington (late date).

Maps: A map is included for each species having at least one confirmed breeding record during 2014 (not necessarily just in summer). A county is colored black to show confirmed breeding, medium gray for probable breeding, and light gray for a summer observation. Those species with no breeding data have no map.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to all who submitted summer season reports and breeding records. Your data make this report possible. Special thanks to Steve Stucker and the Minnesota DNR for providing MBS data. We are also grateful for the data provided by eBird. Thanks also to Anthony Hertzel, Jim Lind, and Jeanie Joppru for providing transcripts of weekly hot line reports, to Paul Budde for compiling early and late dates, to Bob Janssen and Peder Svingen for maintaining a list of county and seasonal occurrence records, and to Dave Cahlander for his work on the online seasonal report. Anthony Hertzel and Dave Cahlander produced the maps used in this report.