December and January statewide average temperatures were above normal (by 7.7 and 2.5 degrees F, respectively), while February temperatures were below normal (by 4.7°F). Precipitation was below normal statewide (by .20 to .64 inches) throughout the winter, and the period November–January was the driest ever in the Twin Cities. A storm on 2–3 February brought the first significant precipitation to southern Minnesota since October, including 10–12 inches of snow in a line from Montevideo to Anoka County. A ground blizzard on 11 February in southern and western Minnesota brought only 1–3 inches of snow, but wind gusts of up to 63 mph (at Windom). Below normal temperatures and lack of snow cover late in the season resulted in the lowest frost depths in ten years, and by 6 March Lake Superior was 90% ice-covered. A “January thaw” on the 7^th and 8^th brought record high temperatures throughout the state (maximum 60°F at Fairmont), and many ice-fishing houses fell through the ice in southern Minnesota.
Compared to previous winters, few waterbirds lingered into the season. Exceptions included two Great Egret reports from the Twin Cities, a mid-winter Greater White-fronted Goose in Martin County, Ross's Geese in Meeker, Martin, and Kandiyohi counties, and both a Greater Scaup and a White-winged Scoter in Duluth. The Department of Natural Resources' mid-winter waterfowl survey tallied a record number of Canada Geese (111,200) at Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area on 16 January, nearly double the previous high of 60,000 in 1998.

As the number of wintering Trumpeter Swans continues to increase, so do the number of Tundra Swans; up to six Tundra Swans were recorded with the Trumpeters at Monticello. A male Northern Pintail overwintered at Duluth and a female Greater Scaup overwintered at the Blue Lake wastewater treatment plant, Scott County. A female Barrow's Goldeneye showed up with the wintering flock of Common Goldeneyes along the Otter Tail River in Fergus Falls, a location where this species has occurred several times previously. Harlequin Ducks spent the latter half of the winter in Two Harbors, with a maximum of five females and one male seen.

Although good numbers of raptors were reported statewide, interesting sightings were limited to an adult male Gyrfalcon seen sporadically in the Duluth harbor, and a single Prairie Falcon in Wilkin County. Northern forest owls were scarce; of particular note, no Snowy Owls were reported from the Duluth harbor this winter for the first time in anyone's memory.

The alternate adult Franklin's Gull which lingered record late along the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers was in the wrong hemisphere and the wrong plumage. Several recent January sightings of Franklin's Gulls from neighboring states have also been of adults in alternate plumage, including Michigan in 2001 and South Dakota in 2003. An adult Iceland Gull seen once in Duluth was probably the same bird wintering at the Superior, Wisconsin landfill, while a first-winter Iceland Gull lingering in Dakota County was followed on 6 January from foraging locations at Point Douglas, Washington County and Pine Bend, Dakota County to its roost at Black Dog Lake (a distance of 23 miles).

The state's ninth Band-tailed Pigeon overwintered at a feeder in Ravenna Township, Dakota County. Eurasian Collared-Doves have apparently become permanent residents in southwestern Minnesota, but they continue to be inadequately documented. Although only two American Three-toed Woodpeckers were reported from one location, a record-high number of Black-backed Woodpeckers was found. A well-documented overwintering Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in St. Louis County was among an above average number of reports of this species.

Many half-hardy passerines lingered in record numbers, including Winter Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Harris's Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow. Add to this listing single reports of Chipping, Lincoln's and Vesper sparrows, three reports of Field Sparrow, and five reports of White-crowned Sparrow, and it becomes clear that this season was the winter of the sparrow.

Northern Waterthrush became the thirteenth species of warbler recorded in Minnesota in winter when the state's first winter waterthrush was found at Whitewater State Park in December. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was well-documented from Ramsey County, a Yellow-headed Blackbird was found in mid-winter in Beltrami County, and two male Baltimore Orioles overwintered in northern Minnesota (one was unable to fly).

Except for excellent numbers of White-winged Crossbills, numbers of “winter” finches were poor at best. There were no reports of Hoary Redpoll, and only two reports of Common Redpoll from the south.

This report summarizes 152 species found by over 116 observers. The many additional observers who participated in the 61 CBCs and/or reported birds only to MOU-net and MNBird are not listed here, but their contributions are nevertheless greatly appreciated. My thanks to Roger Schroeder for coordinating and compiling the CBCs, to Jeanie Joppru, Dave Benson, and Anthony Hertzel for compiling sightings from the state's three rare bird alerts, to Paul Budde for providing a summary of sightings submitted electronically, and to Peder Svingen for reviewing the manuscript.