I was working in the basement the other morning when I
thought I heard a knock at the door. I
stopped what I was doing and went upstairs to see who it was. There was no one. I went back to the basement and soon heard
the knock again. No one around, but I
did hear the knock just before opening the door and I had a pretty good idea of
what it was. I waited upstairs until the
knock came again and caught this Downy Woodpecker tapping away at the fascia
board around my porch.
He took off when he noticed me looking out the window.
The woodpecker was busy exposing Carpenter Bee tunnels
running inside the board. This section
of tunnel was opened several weeks ago, but I never caught sight of the
bird. The tunnels were cleared of
everything edible, so I wasn’t expecting the woodpecker to return.
This time a different tunnel was under attack. The larder looks full. There are definitely some shiny insect parts
showing through the holes.
I used some forceps to draw the bee closer to the opening. Carpenter Bees spend the winter inside unused
tunnels. I imagine this guy will be
woodpecker food before too long.
