teri2 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.

I definitely would not try anything once the eggs are in the nest but I'm just itching to get that focus right. I adjusted for what I thought would be the bottom of the nest material and did not think about a little higher to account for the birds height. Maybe the babies will at least be in focus initially until they grow. They looks like the first layer is a certain type of moss.

I've read about how vicious sparrows can be. I hate sparrows. They can empty out my bird feeder in a couple of hours. Throwing most of it to the ground. The neighbors have a lot of opening on their houses that the sparrows are nesting in. When the holes get bigger the starling then get in and drop crap all over my car. A sparrow worked to make the opening bigger this winter with out success. The chickadees must keep a low profile early on. That evening, just before sunset, one of the babies was hangin on the outside of the hole and then flew down to the ground and hide in the bee balm. The next morning it was on the grapevine. The next evening another one left around the same time. Must be a plan to leave then. They are now in some evergreen trees. I've heard the parents warning them when there are bluejays around. Today I saw one of the adult chickadee chasing a sparrow.

I bought the camera on Amazon. I don't see the camera by itself on there now but hear is the link to a birdhouse and camera combo. http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Cam-Wireless-birdhouse-Spy/dp/B018YSX1P0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_86_42?ie=UTF8&dpID=31QsyAoYqjL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160&refRID=0787BZ8559DBZ1THAZZNThe camera shown is the one I purchased a couple of years ago. It has some IR LEDs on it that the camera can pick up at night but the birds will not notice. I left it in the box all winter and it still works. The camera came with around 50ft of cable because there is power, audio, and video signals. I have the cable running up the side of the house into a window. I hooked up that cable to a product I purchased several years ago made by Honestech that is made for transferring VHS tape to DVD. The software from honestech is used to capture the video to an old P4 computer.