Rough-legged Hawk, Bedminster, NJ, Feb. 17, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Rough-legged Hawks appear to have vacated areas they were frequenting in Morris County such as the Great Swamp NWR and Black Meadows. However, the dark morph Rough-legged Hawk is still present at Rattlesnake Bridge Road in Bedminster Township as witnessed today by Chuck Hantis who comments: “(The Rough-legged Hawk was) very active in the cold wind today…Kestrels and a lot of Red-tailed Hawks also present.”