When Are Woodpeckers Awesome To Have Around? TOPS HOG 4.5 In-Use Pics

Mistwalker

Mistwalker

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Well...I am once again in a near alien environment, and well out of my comfort zone, but I do love exploring new woods. It's beautiful here in the summer, and autumn, and even though it is still beautiful in a different way now, this will definitely take some acclimation for me. We have had a lot of winter precipitation already, starting with a white Thanksgiving and just continuing on till now. We had a couple of days of freezing rain recently, which encapsulated everything in ice, then more snow on top of that, which gives the world the appearance of being glazed and then coated in powdered sugar.

Being new to this type of environment, I had to go exploring. As I wandered through a winter wonderland that has been covered in snow, and now ice, as well as temps below freezing for a solid month, my mind of course wandered to two things, fire-craft and shelter construction. At the moment, I thought, fire-craft utilizing only organic materials found in the woods would definitely be more work than I am used to. Then near by I heard a woodpecker really hammering down on a tree seeking his or her afternoon meal. As I looked around I saw several trees that had undergone such hammering, and one in particular caught my attention.

It's Christmas Eve, so I'm not going to do a lot of writing to go along with the pictures, the photos tell the important parts of the story well enough I think.


The view up the road as I pulled out of my driveway





The view across ice an covered field to an ice covered wood.






The area
















Random flora




















The knife on my belt






When woodpeckers are awesome to have around :)





































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man that is some nice fatwood, and it looks like tops has at last made a knife that looks nice, one question though whats all that white stuff?
 
Snow... I like to visit it once in a while. Enjoyed your pictures and hope your first Christmas in Michigan is good.
 
bronyblacksmith said:
man that is some nice fatwood, and it looks like tops has at last made a knife that looks nice, one question though whats all that white stuff?
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Thanks, no fatwood used, just a small glob of the rich pine sap draining from the openings made by the woodpeckers. They have made a few I really like lately, this one and the Tex Creek in particular, but also the Baja as well. I'm not sure what it is yet, we didn't see much of it in the south :)

Sullie said:
Nice pics, that freezing rain made for some pretty awesome scenery
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Thanks, and yes it did. The one time the sun came out for a while afterward made for an amazing show of sparkling light.


JParanee said:
Very nice pics
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Thank you.


22-rimfire said:
Snow... I like to visit it once in a while. Enjoyed your pictures and hope your first Christmas in Michigan is good.
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Thanks man, glad you enjoyed them. It's going really well so far :)
 
Pretty cool post. We have a bunch of wood peckers around here, but I've never seen them go after pines. Around here it is the harder woods that the bugs infest and thus draw the peckers to drill holes in.

I went for a walk today while it was snowing, but it wasn't nearly as pretty here as you show in your pictures. We only had a light dusting and no ice. You inspire me to wonder around building fires. I mainly walk for health benefits and to have fun with the dog. I need to start taking my toys along and practice with them on my daily walks.
 
Enjoyable pictures, thanks. :thumbup: I'm Not sure if Whiskey Jacks are in your area, but they will grab any camp scraps, fly up, and stuff them into a tree crack for later.

 
Upnorth, what's the deal with girtling a conifer? I noticed they were doing that one of the Alaska shows to kill the tree for firewood later.

That TOPS knife looks pretty useful.
 
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Great photo's! Gotta love snow if you reside on that side of Lake Michigan.

Looks like a Bluejay in that one shot. I've never seen one in winter where the snow flies.

I like that Tops! How long is the handle?
 
Great pics as usual, Mist. Especially the ice-covered field. And yeah, I'm totally digging that Tops, and they usually don't appeal to me. Stay warm up there. :)
 
Small woodpeckers are not too big a problem for the trees but the big ones mean the tree is a goner ! Yours seems to be building a high rise LOL !
 
what part of Mi are you in? I grew up about 15 miles away from Lansing. Very rural, but not far from "Town".
 
22-rimfire said:
Upnorth, what's the deal with girtling a conifer? I noticed they were doing that one of the Alaska shows to kill the tree for firewood later.

That TOPS knife looks pretty useful.
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It was a beaver chewed bud. I was just out last year trying to improvise with local\natural fire starting materials.
 
Thanks for all of the replies fellas, I have family up for the weekend so I am hanging out with them, I'll do a more detailed reply tomorrow :)
 
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