Goodbye Ash Trees

While looking at the pictures of the Piliated Woodpeckers I noticed that the giant ash tree was splitting.

Previously there was no concern about the tree falling on the house because of the way it grew towards the sun and away from the house. But with the split half of it could come down on the house. The tree guy assured me that it wasn't going to fall for quite some time, unless there was another massive wind storm like the two we had back in September of 2008 and January of 2009. So we scheduled a day to cut it down. It rained that day and snowed the next. Wednesday it was cold but clear and a good day to cut down a tree, or two or three.

Up the tree he went and down came the branches.

Until all that was left was a huge pile of firewood.

While it seems a little bare now, it's not all that different. The tree was so tall that all we saw of it was the trunk. The view from the front of the house is where the missing tree is noticeable. The tree was so tall that it towered over the house and could be seen out front.

Fortunately there a many more dead Ash trees in the woods so the woodpeckers will not go hungry.