Snow, sleet, rain, traffic jams, Morristown, NJ, Mar. 3, 2015 (iPhone photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Anyone out and about between 4-7 PM this evening may understand the above scene: traffic in the Morristown area, and probably everywhere else in the region ,with every major road, jammed and backed up. What’s a little snow, sleet, rain and a temperature below freezing during the evening rush hour?

Seventeen days to the Vernal Equinox on March 20, 2015.

Chris Duffek photographed this Red-shouldered Hawk at Duke Island Park today.

Red-shouldered Hawk, Duke Island Park, NJ, Mar. 3, 2015 (photo by Chris Duffek)

Also at Duke Island Park: the male and female Redheads, 2 Greater Scaup hens and Red-breasted Merganser continue on the Raritan River.

From Hillsborough Township, Vicki Schwartz reports Rough-legged Hawk and Red-shouldered Hawk along Beekman Lane. The farm fields along River Road, south of South Branch Rd., continue with Horned Larks in diminished numbers and the Ring-billed Gulls, Canada Geese, Mallards and Crows that are daily throughout the winter.

Up to 4 Rough-legged Hawks were seen at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve on Monday, March 3 (Jacob Socolar via eBird).

This week may be the last hurrah for Rough-legged Hawks in New Jersey this season. Below is a screen shot of an eBird data generated bar graph for Rough-legged Hawk in the entire state. Clicking on the image will take you to the live format on the eBird web site.

Finally, Pine Siskins continue to be widely reported from feeders throughout Morris and Somerset Counties.

eBird Checklists for the mocosocoBirds region may be viewed via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

Finis