Sunday Feature: Holes in the Mountain Ash

**Today’s post is from guest blogger, Peggy**

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For almost 10 yrs, the 2 mountain ashes in our yard has had a woodpecker, or something similar, making quite an interesting pattern of peck marks in it. Hard as we’ve tried, we’ve not been able to spy the culprit.  The trees were quite small when the holes started showing up, so we thought for sure they’d be dead soon.  But year after year they grew, and the holes kept coming.   There were often bees or wasps around, so we thought maybe it was them somehow. I finally identified those as Bald-Faced Wasps, but they just don’t make holes in trees.  It really looked like some kind of woodpecker, but how could they be so secretive for so many years?

Well, finally, a few days ago, he was there. A yellow-bellied sapsucker! He was so intent on his work, I was able to get right up close and snap a few photos.  And I was so intent on taking these pictures, I actually got stung by one of those darn wasps!

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8 thoughts on “Sunday Feature: Holes in the Mountain Ash

  1. Fantastic photos – well worth getting stung for !!

    Is he a type of woodpecker ? He looks as if he may be, but he is not a bird we are familiar with in the uk. Thanks for sharing …

    1. He is a type of woodpecker. They apparently get their name from licking up the sap that leaks out of the holes they bore. Pretty widespread in the Eastern part of the US. Thanks for the comment!

  2. This was such a cute post and story. Too bad on getting stung though, I know wasps pack a punch. I had a sapsucker here this year in my garden. Never saw one in the garden before. He was eating ants I think. You got nice photos of him.

    1. It took my mom 10 years to finally see it, so they seem pretty sneaky. I certainly have no hope of seeing one in my yard. They are fun to see. BTW, you had great photos of “buzzing” things on your site, including coincidently, the Bald-faced wasp.

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