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Great tits have now left our nextbox in London in mid May after feeding chicks for somw while. Hopefully the chicks have flown the nest. My question is do I clean out the nest completely now, clean out anything not wanted but leave the nest, or leave well alone?
Hi Simon and welcome to the forum. For now I'd leave the box alone. They may try to raise another brood. Come October it's safe to clean the box out and give it a bit of a mild. disinfectant.
Andrew
Andrew. Thanks for this, but one further question. Last year, much later in the season, tits nested successfully, but when we opened the box there was a dead chick left. Should we check for this as it might discourage further nesting? I would add that the box is in a small London walled back garden and we regularly sit there, talk, eat etc, and are totally ignored by the birds.
I would check and yes remove any dead chicks but leave the nest intact until October for the reason Andrew said
Mo We shall do this, hopefully this weekend. Many thanks for your advice.