Disturbed 2 Birds Nests in my garden while cutting hedges. Any advice ?

I was cutting a tall bush which was blocking my bedroom window and encroaching over my neighbours wall blocking his light. Everything was going fine until I cut one particular branch and a mother pigeon flew out. I witnessed 2 baby pigeons who had just broken out of their shells. I got out of there as fast as possible and covered it up as fast as I could. The mother pigeon returned to my immense relief. Before I could tell my neighbour the next day he started cutting the huge bush on his side and uncovered the nest again to his and his kids alarm. He covered it up so its been disturbed twice now.

I gave up on that side of the garden and moved to the opposite end of my garden and started cutting some wildly overgrown pyracanthia bushes and inadvertently uncovered a Robins nest. I covered that up too with small tree branches to give them back some of the cover I'd unfortunately removed. Whats going to happen? It looks like I have to cancel my Barbeque plans if I want any peace of mind. What are the chances of the birds continuing their nesting behaviour now ? And how long before I can get back to fixing the ''jungle'' I've allowed my garden to become ? If all goes well will they be finished nesting in a month ? In a months time might I find new nests with new birds ? Any advice is welcome.The Robins seemed pretty friendly and came up to me while I was digging but the mother pigeon seemed the exact opposite. I'm worried they wont feel safe in their nests now.

Problem is that you are pruning at the wrong time of the year. Not only is the sap up in the trees/bushes/shrubs but it is nesting time for birds.

You may wait until nesting is well and truly over. Some species of birds can rear several clutches of young. Best wait until Autumn/Winter at least for really heavy pruning/trimming.

As for the Robin - he was delighted to see you digging. Robins are seldom shy with gardeners who will invarably unearth a supply of worms!

Paddyman said:

Problem is that you are pruning at the wrong time of the year.

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Ah I know. Every time I was free to work on the garden it started raining up to this point. Its not that large a garden even though I make it sound like a wildlife sanctuary. Do you think the nesting birds if they return would be disturbed by any noise I make if I am out there digging and drilling etc ?I covered their locations up with branches up and don't dare to look in case it spooks them. The Robins nest is only 4 feet off the ground. and 10 foot directly opposite from my back door. I was hardly ever outside in the garden until recently so they probably felt a false sense of being in the wild.

Paddyman said:

As for the Robin - he was delighted to see you digging. Robins are seldom shy with gardeners who will invarably unearth a supply of worms!

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They are a really welcome and friendly addition to my garden. If I put a nesting box on one of my trees even if its visible from the ground and sides do you think they'd eventually nest there in future ?

bullworth said:

Ah I know. Every time I was free to work on the garden it started raining up to this point. Its not that large a garden even though I make it sound like a wildlife sanctuary. Do you think the nesting birds if they return would be disturbed by any noise I make if I am out there digging and drilling etc ?

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Unfortunately a fact of life in our country, it rains a lot. Who was it that said, no such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothing

The fact is you disturbed nests because you are pruning at the wrong time of the year. The damage is done, there is no simple rule, a bird may return to a nest or it may not. You can only hope and if you care enough don't do it again.
Robins are friendly sorts and often perch on spades as people are working in the garden. If you keep out of potential nesting sites then you should be OK.

Hope im not hijacking this thread... I have a blackbird nesting in the toilet exit pipe in an upstairs bathroom in an extension I am building.

We are finished plastering externally, and nearly finished internally. The blackbird female is there all day every day, and I don't want to mess up her plans for her nest but I need to remove it as soon as its safe to do it. Worst case scenario is that my plumber will need to plumb in and test the toilet so the sooner the better.

Any advice how long I need to wait?

thanks!

Steve