This week we had to have one of the old maples in the front yard cut. Last week a really big branch broke during a windy night and it was hung up on another branch right over the roof. The reason there is a 12 foot stump is because it is full of concrete. Apparently, that is how they used to "save" a split tree.

This little chunk that came out of the maple is a wood duck nest. Last spring (2009) I just happened to catch a duck flopping out of this tree. When I looked down on the ground, I saw 7 or 8 little gray ducklings waiting for mama. What a sight! So we saw the mama wood duck back in the tree this past spring, but missed the evacuation of the ducklings. When she, or they, return next spring, we are hoping they will find one of the other two maples just as accommodating for a nest.