This afternoon at about 3:30, I found a Cassin's Sparrow in downtown Two Harbors, in the grassy field just north and across the road from the Edna G tugboat parking lot. It was most consistently seen right across the road from the little wooden shack. I flushed it several times over the course of an hour or so before I was able to finally get a good look at it perched and get some photos of it. A small group of birders arrived at about 5:30 and everyone was able to see and photograph it as it skulked in the tall weeds and shrubs. It was very skittish, but did spend a couple minutes in the open foraging at the edge of the gravel. Amazingly, it briefly landed on Kim Eckert's tripod at one point! If accepted by the record's committee this would be the first MN record. There are other records for the Midwest, including Illinois, Michigan, South Dakota and Ontario. There was a lot of migration happening along the North Shore today, so I wouldn't be surprised if the bird moved overnight. eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S60164101 Jim LindTwo Harbors
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