Or - Why Do these Darn Trees Always Fall on the Fence?
- Curious about something you saw while walking in the woods? Spot the coolest bug ever? The prettiest flower and butterfly? Stumble on a rock and found a fossil? Or was it? This is the place to show your discoveries and share in the knowledge of the natural world right outside our doors. Join in the fun everyday at The Daily Bucket.
June 2017
Never heard it. Didn't see it either, so I'm really not sure when the top of this Water Oak fell. Before I was out in the yard looking for wildflowers, I walked near but didn't see it in the mass of trees and greenery along the fence. Inside taking a break, I sat at my desk and looked out the window, a scene I’ve watched for hours - that's when I spotted it.
This is the Water Oak the Pileated Woodpecker roosted in last winter. It had a regular schedule of coming and going -- in before sunset and up at dawn, announcing itself with long repeated calls and drumming. The woodpecker had 3 holes in this tree right where the trunk branched, 2 you can see in photo below. It would go in a hole on the other side and pop up here to watch the sunset before roosting. I always wondered what it was doing in there and how much room did it have. Well now I know.
Typical for a Water Oak — it broke off where the main branches started. The woodpecker holes assured that.
Near as I can tell, this is the larger of the bowls the Pileated hollowed out. There's a second bowl to the lower left. You can see the pattern of strikes as it tore at the soft inner wood. Now I wonder if it did this to enlarge its place on purpose, or to build up a little nest of shavings, or is it simply obsessive-compulsive on this whole head-banging behavior?
Weather permitting, I'll start clearing soon. I was all set this morning with 2 LS shirts ( 1 for sweat, 1 for skeeters), long pants, gloves, hat, rubber boots… but then it started sprinkling. Anyways, all manual labor for me — loppers, axe and bow saw to get the top off the fence and clear my trail to the left. The smaller limbs can wait for winter cleanup & burning and all the big limbs, the 2 main branches for sure, will stay where they are and rot over the next decade.
Sure the Woodpecker lost its roost, maybe even a nest since I saw 2 courting at that tree last winter. But that is part of the cycle. The oak will live on for awhile, slowly decaying as the bugs invade and larvae tunnel thru it — and I'll still get to hear the Pileated when it celebrates some tasty treat.
Later I went outside for an hour or so and got the trail cleared and the old fence patched. Wasn’t so bad once I got thru to the fence but there are crushed saplings everywhere, like a lovely 3” Hickory bent over and forming a giant 20’ bow. Man, I sliced that with an axe and the trunk splintered under the pressure weighing it down. Whack whack — and there’s Poison Ivy all over the ground and non-stop bugs so I’m sure tomorrow I will delight in several UIS. Those are Unidentified Itchy Spots. That's it for this bucket. Thanks for stopping by. See ya in the comments with observations from your backyard.
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