We do have robins here and I think the bird I rescued from my netting last year was a robin. I don't know if we have a lot of them though, and they seem to be easily scared by people. I wonder if a fake owl moved around periodically will do the trick. As for perch I think I can manage to provide no perch spot for them. I can get the lower canes up higher (have to do that to deal with the critters anyways) and try to minimize the amount of fruit exposed at the top of the shrubs? I read somewhere that you can spray fruits with grape Kool-aid mixture. Has any of you heard of that?

By the sound of it you have no sympathy for Robins,... placed netting too late, I know, it can be frustrating. Trees should be covered before cherries get red, [heavy netting],..not with the light netting's which tangles and kills birds. And if you want all cherries for yourself s, then make a structure, place some poles with a top T to hang netting away from cherries.

ahh, the pollinators...i didn't think about that. then perhaps a larger mesh is best, and i should just reprise last year's pest management strategy: use a cordless handheld vacuum to manually suck up the stinkbugs. works surprisingly well but takes a bit of time. i found some netting with holes large enough for bees (3/4" i believe), small enough to keep birds away (can't do much to stop them pecking surface tomatoes but at least the ones deeper in the foliage will be safe), and also light enough to be tossed over the plants without being awkwardly stiff or requiring a frame structure: http://www.amazon.com/Dewitt-Company-14-Feet-200-Feet-Barricade/dp/B004SI186K/ref=sr_1_123?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1392450085&sr=1-123 also much cheaper than the other links i posted! i think i will try it and return with an update. :) i am currently having a problem with some kind of rodent (i think) eating my napa cabbages (they are missing huge chunks out of the heads which is sad because it took so long for those heads to start forming) so i may put a couple layers over those to test it out.

My understanding is squirrels can jump almost 5 feet. In your opinion/experience what would be the appropriate height for the first limb to begin fruitnut? For example my peach tree which was planted in November is only 2 ft tall and was pruned to that height. I am going to have branching from beneath the cut. This complicates things for getting a single trunk up to 3-4 feet.