Based on good feedback from this group, I cleaned out our chickadee
nesting box and
put it back up for winter.
The parents had cleaned out most of the wood shavings and made a nest of:

bottom material -- almost all moss, about 1.5 inches worth
then about an inch of lint, animal hair, spider web

there were a few small items that might have been scat.
I have no experience identifying what critters have eaten by their
leftovers.
No obvious parasite infestation.

I've got my winter feeders up and the chickadees are back in force, plus
bushtits and bewick's wrens.
Otherwise pretty quiet, at least during the time I can observe.


Douglas Daily, Patricia Federighi, Bargello
Northgate, Seattle, WA
mailto: dfdaily at juno.com