The rows of holes in these trees could be ancient (but simple) hieroglyphics telling us about who knows what. Probably some aliens left them eons ago. Or maybe not; after all this isn't Roswell, N.M., it's Northfield, VT. After a little sleuthing, I discovered that one or several yellow-bellied sap suckers made these holes. What a name! I'm glad my Mom didn't name me after this member of the woodpecker family. They are actually pretty birds and we have seen them around the house during the Spring and Summer. They are one of the few woodpeckers to completely migrate in the Winter. They won't come to a feeder, but they do visit the trees around the house on occasion and one male used to like to drum on the metal roof of our shed. The YBSS drills out small holes in regular rows on a tree in order to drink the sap. They apparently like birch trees because all of these pictures are birch trees. The YBSSs are gone for the Winter, but counting them we have a really good representation of woodpeckers here on our place to include the hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, northern flicker and pileated woodpecker. I haven't actually seen a pileated woodpecker yet but the big rectangular holes they make in trees are everywhere. The hairy and the downy woodpeckers are daily visitors to the feeders. They've even managed to finish off the homemade suet I put out. (I can't take credit for the YBSS picture above which I found on the web.)
2 comments:
Whit and I are glad to see that you are back to the blog. My question: What will you write about once the birds have been covered? We would like to see some pics of the shop and some of your woodworking projects.
Yes I second that motion. Lets see some wood!
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