Hawk nest

I was pleasantly surprised the other day to see Max adding twigs to and tidying up last year's nest at Nelly's Lawn. The nest is in a conifer that has died over the winter. I'm a little conflicted about their decision to reuse this nest because, on the one hand, a lack of needles in the tree will make observing the nest really easy. However, it also means that the nest will have no cover in inclement weather. I'm also concerned that the dead trees branches will be very brittle and, possibly, break under the weight of the nest. I guess all I can do is wait and watch.