For the Love of Trees

Standing as tall as a magnificent Maple Tree our handsome fellow shows how easy it is to put together an attractive and purposeful look. It's all eyes right as our man provides a welcome view on the T! Speaking of Maple Trees...

our HOTT Crew congratulates the Cambridge Parks Department for their creative methods of maintaining a healthy urban forest while also preserving the necessary elements for the protection of urban wildlife.

The Red Maple pictured above at Arsenal Square was in need of serious trimming, and in Boston the entire tree would have been cut down and removed. But not in Cambridge! In this particular tree our HOTT Crew delights in watching a nesting pair of Downy Woodpeckers raise a family every summer, and in Winter the nesting holes are used as roosting places for the Downy Woodpeckers so they can survive the winter and escape predators such as Coopers Hawks. And Downy Woodpeckers eat pest insects such as beetles and bark borers that damage trees, so they're a great species to have and maintain in our urban environment. So Cambridge Parks Department left the trunk standing tall, rather than removing it, and preserved the nesting and roosting places for the woodpeckers. Aren't they adorable!

So keep your eyes on the trees and see if you can find these delightful and very helpful Downy Woodpeckers!

Location: Red Line at Harvard

Imagined Profession: Director of Urban Parks Operations

Photographer: GB