Poor Tree

This is a tree on the property across from our house.  Actually, this is just one of several that have been marked by the pileated woodpeckers that we have around here.

See the top there?  Yeah, the top part of it broke off last fall during the first snowfall.  Almost hit a guy standing next to a truck that was parked there.

You can really see how hollow this tree is.

I’m guessing this is/was a current/former nest.

I was actually watching last year as one of them lopped this bark off the side.

I’m guessing he was pissed at something.

Maybe got into a fight with the Misses and needed to let off steam.

Or, maybe there was a buffet of bugs underneath it.

All I know is that they’d better stay away from the wood frame we have around our picture window.

A few years ago I spent a week staining and sealing some beautiful rough wood to place around this window.  Only took this one a couple hours to find it and start chipping away at it.

See the kitty?  That is Natasha, my baby that we lost to cancer in 2005.  The window has a reflective coating on the outside, so she can see him, but he can’t see her.

And what she saw was lunch!

See what that little bugger did!!!

Took me a while, but I finally shooed him off.  Luckily, this is the only damage he did.

Yep, they’re fun to watch as long as they stay behind the line drawn in the sand… err grass.