Our first visit to the orchard and the number of windfalls seemed to be well down on previous years. The owner confirmed that most of the trees had not produced the normal amount of apples, and that many thrushes had been in feasting on the fruit during the earlier spell of cold weather, when the wind had been too strong to ring there.
There wasn't a great deal of activity and only 18 birds were processed. These were mostly caught between 08:30am and 10am before the hedge trimming started. The list reflected the mix of species present.
3F Starling
3M Linnet
4F Green Woodpecker
4M Green Woodpecker
3F Fieldfare
Total: 18
Green Woodpecker - 2
Fieldfare - 1
Redwing - 3
Great Tit - 1
Starling - 7
Chaffinch - 2
Goldfinch - 1
Linnet - 1