Friday, June 8, 2007

Quick post

Got a crazy weekend brewing. Need to do some major cleaning tonight and tomorrow morning. But, I also need to stop by an art exhibit tonight starting at 7:00 that my neighbor is the curator of. Luckily it is at our community center so it is just a few blocks away. Whew!

I'll leave you with this photo quiz. Does anyone know what is wrong with this tree and who or what did it? I took this photo in January. It is a walnut tree that borders my yard.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi from the PDI! I am using my new laptop with wireless internet connection. I don't suppose the marks on the tree are from anything as simple as a woodpecker? Hope you have a good weekend. It's stifling hot back in Raleigh, but we just had a big thunderstorm/downpour here in Pittsburgh and it really cooled things off.

possumlady said...

Okay, maybe it was too easy, being a woodpecker. BUT! What kind of woodpecker? Huh? Huh?

How to you like the Pittsburgh Omni? I stayed there last year for my niece's graduation and thought it was very nice and comfortable. Hope you get to see some sights, I really was impressed by Pittsburgh, beautiful old buildings, lots of renovations happening and coming together at three rivers! Oh, and lots of hills!!

Mary said...

Well, a pileated would do more damage than that... I can't guess.

Good luck this weekend and have fun!

possumlady said...

Okay, I'm going to wait one more day to see if we get any other guesses. I was excited to see it. It was a lifer bird for me!

Anonymous said...

Oh, you mean you know the answer?! Well, the only kinds of woodpeckers I've seen in person are red-bellied, red-headed, and downy woodpeckers. We commonly get red-bellied woodpeckers at our bird feeder. We've had a family this year feeding their young from our feeder. Sometimes they "peck" on the house--sounds like a jackhammer! Occasionally, we see a red-headed woodpecker. At our previous house we saw downies quite often, but I have not seen any at this house. Any chance it's one of those?

I like Pittsburgh because of the reasons you stated. I also like the Omni. I have a very nice room! I went to a research symposium this morning on the University of Pitt campus and on the bus ride over we went through a really interesting neighborhood on the side of the hill--beautiful old homes of brick and stone. Also, last night I ate at a restaurant on the "cliff" overlooking the Monongahela River while it absolutely poured outside punctuated by thunder and lightening. Quite a site!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Sapsucker? Are they the ones who revisit holes--use them as feeding stations?

possumlady said...

DING, DING, DING, DING!!!!

We have a winner!! I was just about to write in the answer and saw Nina's post. Yes, it was a yellow-bellied sapsucker. A male. It was so much fun to watch him. What a lot of work they do. He was just starting to reap the benefits and was lapping up the sap when a squirrel chased him a away and had the sticky treat all to himself.

Thanks Nina! If you see trees that have vertical rows of holes, that is the signature of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. And, yes, they do revisit them. Though this guy has flown the coup to more northern climes. I didn't know that they winter in the Maryland area. Actually I read that if you see a yellow-bellied sapsucker in the winter, in Maryland, it is most likely a male as females tend to fly much further south for the winter. (I won't make any comments about males being lazy).