Sunday Smile or P*@ker Holes

On a Sunday afternoon not too long ago I called Scott over to the living room window which overlooks the backyard. There was a woodpecker on one of the flowering plum trees, just pecking away. I’ve heard woodpeckers in the neighborhood, but honestly I had never seen one up close. And here this one was less than twenty feet away.

Picture courtesy of the Audubon Society, this little guy is called a Hairy Woodpecker. Often mistaken for a Downy Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker is larger and more likely to go after a tree trunk like our little buddy did. Scott took some pictures this morning of the trunk of the flowering plum. It’s actually quite impressive what that little bird did. 

What was he after? Is the tree infested? Will all the holes irreversibly damage the tree? Scott could only hope!