i guess you could toss snowballs at him tomorrow?

You must live out in a more rural area than I do. I would give anything to have a hawk close enough to observe from my house!

I understand your frustration though...all I can think is that predators do move on to look for food, and if there are no birds (or enough small mammals, voles, etc.)in your area the hawk will move on too. It will probably be a waiting game. No doubt the birds will be back as soon as they perceive it to be safe.

In the meantime, I would enjoy watching that hawk. Maybe your neighbor could keep little notes for you about what the hawk does, if it leaves the garage, if it has hunted, etc. It could be interesting.

You can always send the hawk over here to Zone 5 in Massachusetts, my neighborhood. Believe me, we haven't seen anything that interesting in some time! :)

Yesterday, we watched Mr. Hawk grab a white weasel out of the yard. We had seen the weasel but had no idea what it was. I had never heard of a white weasel, much less seen one!
Early this morning, I see a few sparrows but nobody else. Perhaps Mr. Hawk has moved on?

I wonder what kind of hawk it was? Could it have been a red-tail? Weasels are ferocious, so I'm guessing it had to be a good sized hawk. I do hope the hawk has moved on so you get your birds back.

Weasels become white in the north in the winter,in the south they sta y a beautiful brown. we have three different weasels here in ND and imagine you have the same, Long Tail,short Tail and the least weasel.The least weasel is the smallest carnivorous mammal in the world.

As a nature photographer, your plight has offered me so much excitement i scarcely know where to begin.

I sympathize with you at the lack of birds, i don't know how i would get through my winter days if it weren't for all the birds at my feeders but before we address how to run that hawk off, I would strongly encourage you to grab your camera and get as many photos as you can. It is a rare opportunity to see a hawk close up.

I was especially excited when you mentioned the white weasel. I suspect what you saw was a STOAT (Mustela Erminea) commonly called a "Short tailed Weasel. The Stoat ranges throughout the northern temperate and arctic range, although they are generally nocturnal and extremely elusive. In summer they are brown and called stoats, but in winter they have a white coat and they are properly called Ermine. In the fur industry the white pelt of an Ermine is prized higher than mink because unlike Mink, the Ermine cannot be raised in captivity. They are extremely difficult to trap because they will literally chew their own foot off to escape a leg hold trap. Just getting a fleeting glimpse of an Ermine is a once in a lifetime event.

Now let us consider how you might deter the hawk. About the only natural enemy of the hawk is a large owl.
they make a large owl decoy that is primarily used by gardeners to deter birds from their gardens. Erecting such a decoy where the hawk likes to perch would probably deter the hawk, but on the other hand, it may also deter the smaller birds in the same way the hawk is doing now.

I can think of one other method that may work. Most marine stores or boatyard stores stock an inflatable snake which is about 6ft long when inflated. They principally place them on boats to deter birds from roosting in the rigging and making a mess on the deck or superstructures. I don't know how effective it would be in winter, but considering that the inflatable snakes are rather cheap, it would certainly be worth trying. you can also find those inflatable snakes listed in garden catalogs, or they may have them in the garden shop at your local big box store.

Lazypup, This hawk would love to have you drop by for a photo shoot! This guy has become accustomed to our comings and goings. There is major construction going on down the street and I think the digging for the foundation of the new house has scared out all this prey for Mr. Hawk. Weasels!!?? We had to look on the internet because we honestly thought it was a pet ferret that had gotten away from it's owner!
This hawk will allow you to walk within twenty feet or so, watching you the whole way. It's kind of an eerie feeling, that big guy sitting on the little tree. He's so heavy and he sits on the top branches so they get bowed down under his weight. You can see his feathers cover his legs, down to his feet. We live one block from a restored prairie. I wish Mr. Hawk would go back there.
While walking thru there in the spring months, we've heard owls in the pines. One evening, as I was driving home, an owl swooped down near my car. It came right toward the car, a giant thing, with a white face. I looked him in the eye and screamed, "OWL!". There was no doubt about it. He thought I was a lunatic and with just a flap or two of his giant wings, he was gone.
My own yard is an open area, perfect for the tree swallows and bluebirds in the spring. Not so great for the tiny song birds I long to see. That is changing, we are planting evergreens for cover. I would do anything for a cardinal. I have a NIkon D40 with a 70-200 lens. I am tempted to leave it in the car, but wonder if it would be damaged by the low (20s) temps??
I work near a gamebird sanctuary, so it's common to see pheasant and turkey and quail in the road. I would love to share the pics with ya'll.

Have you consider taking down your feeder for a few days? Mr. or Mrs Hawk has got to eat, so if birds stop coming to your yard, it will move on.

Last spring while helping my sister work on her tractor I missed the photos of a lifetime. I was sitting on the ground beside the tractor when I heard a strange noise as something hit the corral fence behind me. I turned to see what it was and to my complete amazement, there was a baby Bald Eagle sitting on the top rail holding on for dear life. It appeared the Eagle was out for his first flight lessons. There I was, hands covered in grease and not a camera in sight. At first I thought I might move a bit closer to get a good look at that bird, but then the thought came to me, if he is out for his first flight lessons you can be sure his momma is not far away and if I know nothing else about wild critters, i definitely know better than to get between a mother and her baby.

Needless to say, I didn't get any photos but you can be sure that I learned a hard lesson. Now I hardly go to the bathroom without having a camera with me, in fact, when I take a nature hike I generally carry 3 and sometimes 4 cameras, all set up with different lenses so I don't have to waste time changing lenses in the field.

I have all my bird feeders set up on the same tree about 50 feet from my window and even as I type this my camera is sitting on a tripod, already focused on the feeders so if I see a new bird or interesting action all I need to do is grab the external shutter release cable and snap away.

I would not recommend leaving your camera in the car summer or winter, but you can be sure I would certainly have one with me when I went to or from the car.

One afternoon last fall I was out shooting macro shots of wild plants with my Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR and a Sigma 70-300mm lens when I hapened to spot a flock of wild turkes about 250 yrds away. The birds were crossing the road and I just had a few moments to extend the zoom, focus and get off a quick shot or two. The attached photo is not the best exposure, but I think you will agree that it is a shot that cannot be repeated. The turkeys are crossing the road and one turkey has his wing up like a crossing guards hand, and a car is stopped.

I would love to see a pic of Mr. Hawk! He sounds like a big one. Doesn't he have a bigger tree i.e. more dignified perch rather than a small tree that barely supports his weight? LOL

Sounds like you have a nice assortment of wildlife in your area, despite the lack of cover for the little birds. What are you planting in your yard?

wow! I love the wild turkey photo!! I don't know that I would even recognize a bald eagle!
I am convinced that I will be able to create a better place for songbirds without taking away the open space that the swallows and bluebirds need. I am going to divide the yard into rooms and plant globe shaped arborvitae around the deck and foundation of the house. I already have planted winterberry shrubs, crabapples with smallish fruits, cherry and plum trees, but for the most part the yard is wide open.
After Christmas, my husband dragged the Christmas tree out into the yard and leaned it up against the length of split rail near the feeders. For two days, our yard was packed with birds!!! They didn't care the tree was a goner! I just think we need more cover.
After picking it up a dozen times, the tree is gone, I have to figure out a better way to set it up so those winds don't push it down.

You can see his feathers cover his legs, down to his feet.

Unless the hawk is perched crouched to keep warm, there are few if any hawks that have feathers down to their toes. One is the Rough-legged hawk, way too small to take a stoat. The other is the Golden eagle, which is huge and feathered to the toes.

My resident Cooper's Hawk in the crabapple tree where one of the bird feeders hang. He had just caught his breakfast on the wing and decided to dine right there.

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Yikes!! Your crabapple tree is 10 times the size of mine!

I love crabapples - such an excellent bird tree year-round. Your young tree is very pretty, and has some fruits at least! But, your area looks quite wide open. I've noticed that the Juncos and Sparrows are very dependent on low-growing cover and are never far from some brush or shrubbery. Cardinals are also never far from the thickets.

A very-fast growing shrub you could consider to provide some cover and berries for the birds is American Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis. I bought 12 seedlings in Spring 2008. They were 8 feet tall and full of berries this past summer. Could not believe how fast they grow and flower. The birds were all over them for months.

I am envious of your openness and full sun and have the opposite problem, with a lot that was practically wall to wall canopy trees and vegetation when I moved here. Many invasive plants. After clearing about 1/2 the lot, there still isn't any full sun anywhere. Guess we want what we don't have!

here it's also elderberys and also chokecherrys and the nanking bush cherries that are a treat for the birds
plus they are great for jams and jellies.

My mistake! The hawk is not sitting on a limb of the crabapple, but the crabapple grows right next to that tree, thus you see the apples in the pic. It is a good size tho and has yellow apples that stay on all winter. The robins usually finish those off in early Spring. There is also a Redbud growing close, multi-floral rose bushes, scrub trees and bruning bush, all sitting along the property line on the edge of a field. So birds have places to escape.

Not to say Mr. Cooper doesn't try because just this morning I noticed the tell-all quietness outside when he is nearby. Here he was sitting in a big burning bush and suddenly he and a sparrow were playing catch-me-if-you-can INSIDE the shrub! The sparrow made a dart for freedom and the hawk followed but he must have missed because I saw him circle back and land empty handed (or empty clawed) in the walnut tree.

I don't think your area is too open for song birds. How long have you been feeding in that location? Deep snow cover will push birds south, even if they winter in your area.

Your hawk doesn't sound like an Accitper, the lean Hawks that routinely attack feeders. In my experience, Accipters rarely perch in the open, like on a barn for more than a brief amount of time. They are usually inside the tree canopy. Killing a weasel also suggests its more likely a Buteo Hawk, the big stocky hawks that mainly feed on rodents. Buteos are usually on open perches, along the higways, on telephone poles, on buildings, etc.

Accipters usually need the element of surprise to catch a healthy adult bird. In the summer time, adult birds will usually mob them and pester then until they leave the area. This time of year, all the song birds are adults and wise. Accipters usually rely on the stealth, below the horizon attack this time of year. They fly really close to the ground and charge into areas they anticipate birds to be and grab any bird that doenst flush in time. I've seen them make attacks on my feeder when its empty. They build up speed and come around the corner the house ambush the feeder. They will make a J turn around the feeder pole and almost touch the ground (right where the Doves would normally be). They do this even without any birds present. Even using this strategy, I've seen doves escape, usually losing a few feathers. Being out in the open makes its hard for the Hawk to get the element of surprise with lots of eyes watching and no terrian to take advantage of. Now, in the summer time with fledgings everywhere, Accipters can catch them without the element of surprise. If you get alot of accipter attacks, you can try a decoy. Since the hawk usually goes for the last bird to move when attacking. Purple Martin landlords use these to reduce the chances for success. But I don't think your lack of birds is related to the hawk. I've seen our birds spot an accipter 200 yards away and freeze. A Buteo hawk could be perched 50 yards away and they would be indifferent to it, except when nesting.

Sissyz, please do try to get a picture of your hawk. I think we would all love to see it.
Sharon

Gracious! Feeder birds and Cardinals are a dime a dozen-I seldom bother to photograph them, but seeing a "hawk" with feathered legs-either a Rough-legged Hawk or a Golden Eagle that lets you approach within six feet, and seeing it take an ERMINE..now that's something worth photographing!! You even have a Nikon.

Reminds me of my English sister-in-law, Celia, who moved to this family farm back in the 1980s after she married my brother. She was complaining to us that she wasn't getting any birds at her feeders. "All I get are all these red and blue colored birds..but not ONE English Sparrow!"

Don't you know, I have put my cheap point and shoot Kodak in my car and I haven't seen that dirty bugger since!! I don't know what kind of hawk he is, the neighbor says he sees different ones, red tailed is one. I don't know if it has feathered legs, if its true that he might be just sitting down so it appears to be that way??
I should learn to appreciate the birds we do get, I guess, but they aren't like the ones I see here, Orioles?? wow. I would love to see one.
I belong to the Illinois Bird Watchers ListServe and a lady five miles from me has a varied wood thrush. Folks from far away come to see it. It must be something. They talk about it everyday. Call it Bird of the Year.
It won't come here, I don't have a big tree for it.
I am still waiting for that Hawk to show himself again. He has me worried because the bluebirds might not come if he's living here....

If I had a VARIED THRUSH within five miles I'd be there with bells on!!! I've driven hundreds of miles to see birds, even flown overseas.

I certainly don't wait for birds, though, I'm usually out in the woods checking out their haunts. Maybe you can borrow or rent a good camera/lens combo, but with birds that come that close you wouldn't need much