We had two surprises today. The first was a Flicker that stayed
on the seed feeder for a long time (at least 5 minutes) and since I
was about 6 feet away I got a very long look at it.

The second was even more exciting ... I was upstairs (where I can
see the yard, fence, and nectar feeder but not the seed feeder ...
and I noticed "no birds!". So I went downstairs and stood near
the sliding door and a Cooper's Hawk swooped in, took a long
look at the feeder to see no birds, swung back out and landed on
the fence, and stayed there for about 3 or 5 minutes ... turning
its head towards the seed feeder about every 10 seconds or so.
I guess it was hoping that a small bird would come to the
feeder and not notice it sitting on the fence about 15-20 feet
away.
It flew away and about 5 minutes later the small birds started
to return.
I do not know if the Cooper's had made an earlier pass at the
feeder that emptied the back yard. Possible - definitely. I
wasn't watching then so I'll never know. I did look and there
weren't any feathers in the yard.
- Jim in Burlington