hairy woodpecker work on ash trees

hairy woodpecker work on ash trees

by Christine Hanrahan

December 4, a mild day, with the merest hints of snow. A day to visit the FWG and look for blog subjects. Apart from the many squirrels, it was pretty quiet. A small flock of house finches in the Backyard Garden (BYG), several cardinals, a couple of crows flying over, several juncos also in the BYG, and of course, black-capped chickadees all over the place.

Although I saw no hairy woodpeckers, their presence at the garden is very discernible. Just take a look at the poor old ash trees, which once again show the very distinct signs of hairy woodpecker feeding (photo at right). The woodpeckers, of course, are looking for the emerald ash borer larvae. The birds are not killing the trees, as is sometimes thought; the trees are on their way out, killed by the very pretty emerald green Buprestid beetle (a.k.a. Emerald Ash Borer).

Grey squirrels were especially busy refurbishing their treetop nests, ferrying big clusters of leaves, by mouth, up to their various nests. A few small piles of rabbit scat here and there, and fresh fox tracks across the pond, were the only other signs of mammals.

Wandering around, you’ll notice that under many manitoba maples, the snow is littered with remnants of keys, evidence of much feeding by squirrels. All of the most favoured wild food is vanishing fast now, and what is left is either the inedible or the stuff that is used as a last resort. Many crabapples still have luscious looking clusters of fruit. Some will eventually be eaten, but others never will be. Some of these cultivars are purposely “designed” to make the fruit unappealing (inedible) for wildlife, thus allowing the trees to retain their colourful fruit throughout the winter.

More info and photos on the blog here:
http://www.pbase.com/fwg/fwg_blog_dec_2013