Hello Stephanie, when a bird box/hanger is up, it may take a while for the birds to see it and use it. In spring time and until after the breeding season no interference is allowed at all near a box or nesting site. As it is now October they can be emptied out and cleaned ready for next year. At this time of year the birds will be using your hanger and other boxes to roost in, they may use it some nights or many nights, to keep out of the rain, wind and cold on a horrid night. You can easily secure it now, as you are not disturbing young. I am sure they will appreciate it to keep cosy in.
Just a word of warning, as this is an open site to everyone, you may want to change you name from your personal email, you do not want to be caught up with unwanted emails etc. Easy to do, just click on the round circle top right, go into profile and from there you will see edit profile, down the right a little, click that and you can change your name in the white bar top left, to what you want. If you want you can click the little picture to the left of your name and add any photo as your profile.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.