in article , Judith Lea at
wrote on 4/2/03 9:30 pm:

I have a clematis over my front door and obviously it's not in leaf now.
However we have 2 nests there and usually the birds vacate the nests for
the winter. One nest is still fully occupied and dropping its "droppings"
over my pansies in a pot. Why have the birds chosen not to go away this
year? If I take the nest away, would the birds be able to make another
elsewhere ? or would they suffer? if so they can lodge on a little longer.

I'd move the pot, never a nest. I think you might find it's not that it's
still occupied but that it's new occupants. Birds here are nest-building
already. We have just the same situation by the front door and the door
into the courtyard. They've never nested there before, so we've just moved
anything within range. And we're careful walking in and out. ;-) Life gets
so potentially messy here when the rookery is in full flow that I sometimes
think we should issue customers with umbrellas for one area of the garden -
even on the driest of days! I got 'christened' more than once last year!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk