The period December–February was the second warmest on record statewide, surpassed only by Winter 1997–98, while November – February was the warmest ever. Mean temperatures (°F) were 23.9° for December, 19.9° for January, and 25° for February, which were 9.8, 11.7, and 10.9 degrees above normal respectively. Statewide, the high temperatures each month were in the lower 60s, with the maximum reported as 65° at Worthington on 24 February. Statewide low temperatures were only in the –20s, with the minimum reported as –28° at Tower on 4 February. The Twin Cities set a record by not reaching a below zero temperature until 18 January (previous record 16 January 1955), and this proved to be the only subzero reading all winter! Precipitation was 0.5 inches below normal statewide during December and January, but closer to normal in February (0.14 below average) when 4–9 inches of snow fell in central and southern regions, 6–12 inches fell on the North Shore, and 15–19 inches fell locally in Pine County.

Similar to previous warm winters (e.g., 1997–1998 and 1999–2000), observers focused on lingering waterbirds in December, since many lakes in the south did not freeze until late December (up to a month later than normal). Record late dates were set for a number of waterbirds, including Greater White-fronted Goose, Greater Scaup, Killdeer and Dunlin at Duluth, and Great Egret, Surf Scoter and Black Scoter at Winona. On a trip to the Southeast on 22 December, I encountered balmy, snow-less, ice-free conditions reminiscent of early November, and was surprised to estimate concentrations of 12,100 Tundra Swans at Reno and 75,000 Common Mergansers on Lake Pepin.

Lingering passerines were widely distributed. A Marsh Wren was found in the Minnesota River Valley at Mound Springs Park, Hennepin County — all but two of the previous nine winter records have been from the Minnesota River Valley in the Twin Cities. A pair of Eastern Phoebes feeding on berries along a small creek in Little Sauk, Todd County, lingered into the New Year. Among the record high 18 individual Yellow-rumped Warblers was an “Audubon's” Warbler documented in Washington County; this represents only the 16^th record of this subspecies in Minnesota, four of which have occurred in winter. Despite Palm Warbler's late migration period in fall, eleven other species of warblers had been recorded in previous winters before this species' debut on 14 December at Two Harbors. An Orange-crowned Warbler on 14 December was the third species of warbler found this season. The Summer Tanager at Duluth was only the third winter record and the latest date for northern Minnesota, while a late Baltimore Oriole, also at Duluth, was carefully scrutinized to eliminate Bull-ock's Oriole. Minnesota's only record of Bullock's is from Duluth in the winter. A Lincoln's Sparrow in downtown Minneapolis was only the eighth ever found in winter, but was the observer's second for this location during winter! Lastly, a Savannah Sparrow was discovered in a Wilkin County field in mid-January. In spite of this multitude of interesting late passerines, no towhees were reported for the first winter since 1985, in great contrast to last year's seventeen reports. Also, for the first time in over 40 years, no meadowlarks were found.
Most of the interesting waterfowl and passerines did not remain throughout the winter. Overwintering records of interest included three White-winged Scoters at Duluth, several Red-breasted Mergansers in the southern Twin Cities metro area, an injured Sandhill Crane at Moorhead, four different Carolina Wrens, and increased numbers of Northern Flickers and Eastern Bluebirds.

Although one or two Ring-billed Gulls have overwintered at Black Dog Lake in the past (1970–1971, 1992–1993, and 1999–2000), for the first time ever a large flock of gulls overwintered at Black Dog and the adjacent Minnesota River in Hennepin County, resulting in the first confirmation of both Herring Gull and Glaucous Gull overwintering away from Lake Superior. Greater than normal numbers of gulls were present at the western end of Lake Superior this season as well. As a result, at least four Great Black-backed Gulls and four Iceland Gulls were documented, two species which were considered Casual just a few years ago. Additional reports at Black Dog Lake of an adult Iceland Gull with completely white wingtips were inconclusive since recent experience in northern Alaska has shown that adult Glaucous Gulls can appear very small-billed and long-winged, and can even appear slightly smaller than Herring Gulls. Well described and more noteworthy was the Black-legged Kittiwake found feeding on a road-killed deer along I-35 in Pine County.

With few exceptions, boreal species did not move southward in significant numbers. A record high 41 Black-backed Woodpeckers included 2 reports from Sherburne County, the first south reports since the invasion of 1987, but the reports of American Three-toed Woodpeckers was average. Except for Snowy Owls, which were widespread in good numbers, numbers of northern owls were modest at best. Though White-winged Crossbills were widespread, most of the reports outside the coniferous region were of individuals or small groups at feeders, and the large numbers typifying an “invasion” were not present. Other Fringillids were found in average numbers.

Warm temperatures during the period 18–23 February brought a surge of early migrants into the state, with several new early dates set for waterfowl, but subsequent snowfall and below normal temperatures curbed this migration. March almost became the coldest month of the “winter.” As with the winter 1999–2000 season, large numbers of Greater White-fronted Geese moved into the state during the latter half of February, heralded by a flock of six in Otter Tail County on the remarkable date of 14 February. Well over half of the 675 reported individuals had already been seen by 23 February, even though the previous early migration date was 24 February! Despite these large numbers of white-fronted geese, there were only two reports of migrant Snow Geese and one of Ross's Goose during the same period. Observers also reported flocks of ten Tundra Swans and seven Red-breasted Mergansers along the Mississippi River in the Southeast region on 18 February. Although both species occasionally overwinter, the flock sizes indicated that these were record early migrants (and underscores the importance of reporting flock sizes when claiming early dates for waterfowl).

The early migration inspired Frank Nicoletti and Dave Carman to begin counting raptors at the West Skyline Hawkwatch in Duluth earlier than usual, and as a result they found a record early Cooper's Hawk on 18 February. Also on this remarkable date was an immature Red-shouldered Hawk in Grant County, a first county record. Although this could have been an early migrant, experience at the Hastings-Prescott Bird Count (where large numbers of Red-shouldered Hawks are seen) has indicated that adults move north weeks ahead of immatures.

This report summarizes 159 species found by over 118 observers. The many additional observers who participated in the 59 CBCs and/or those who reported only to MOU-net were not listed. Though CBC data were fully incorporated into this report as usual, a separate summary of the CBC season has been prepared by CBC editor Roger Schroeder. My thanks to Roger for coordinating and compiling these data. I also thank Betsy Beneke, Dave Benson, Kim Eckert, and Anthony Hertzel, who compiled the state's three rare bird alerts, and Paul Budde, who provided a summary of data submitted by observers electronically. Peder Svingen reviewed the manuscript and compiled sightings of northern owls and Trumpeter Swans.