Note: This is part three of the story of a recent visit to Ashuelot Park in Keene, New Hampshire.
I can’t imagine what this town would be like without the Ashuelot flowing through it. So much of the wildlife seen in the area is here because of the river. 
There was plenty of evidence that woodpeckers live here. This hole was about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and from what I’ve read, that means it was probably made by a downy, hairy, or red headed woodpecker.
This hole was much larger and rectangular, so it was probably originally made by a pileated woodpecker, although other pileated woodpecker holes I’ve seen have more rounded corners than what are seen here. Since there were pieces of gray fur inside, it is most likely being used by another bird or animal now. Woodpeckers make new holes each year and many other birds and animals use the abandoned holes for nesting sites.
Here are the tell tale signs of a sapsucker, which is in the woodpecker family. The horizontal rows of holes cause “phloem” sap to dam up and accumulate in the plant tissue just above the wounds. The bird enlarges the holes over the course of several days and then adds another row above the first, eventually resulting in square or rectangular patterns of many holes. Sapsuckers have a kind of brushy tongue that they lick up the sap with. The kind of sap that we tap maple trees for is “xylem” sap, which is much thinner and less sweet than phloem sap. Because phloem sap is so much thicker and stickier than the watery xylem sap that we make maple syrup from, scientists can’t figure out how these birds get it to flow so freely. Insects, bats, other birds, and many animals also drink sap from these holes.
You won’t find any woodpecker holes in this tree! This is the easily recognizable undulating form of American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), also called “muscle wood” for obvious reasons. The wood of this tree is very heavy, dense and hard, and though some call it “iron wood,” that isn’t much help with identification because several other species are called the same thing. Blue Beech is another common name because the bark resembles that of the beech. American hornbeam is a smallish understory tree that is usually found on flood plains and other areas that may be wet for part of the year. It’s hard to find one of any great size because they have a short lifespan.
Beavers wouldn’t be gnawing on the tough wood of American hornbeam, but they didn’t have any trouble with this cherry. The blackening and fungal growth at the top of the stump shows that they took this tree down many years ago. It must be a popular spot with beavers though, because they are still cutting the new shoots at the base.
Fresh water mussels are abundant in the river and make good snacks for raccoons, muskrats and other animals. Locally there is a recovery plan in place to save the dwarf wedge mussel (Alasmidonta heterodon ) which, though abundant 100 years ago, is now known in only 12 locations in New England. Far more common is the eastern elliptio, the shell of which I think appears in the above photo. Mussels are very important because they filter and clean the water.
I was hoping I’d also be able to show some signs of the black bear, deer, and moose that are seen in this area, but they haven’t left any calling cards lately, apparently. I’ll keep my eyes open.
The fourth and final part of this walk in the park will be along shortly. Thanks for stopping by.
New Hampshire Garden Solutions 
Great information. Lucky me I came across your website
by chance (stumbleupon). I’ve saved it for later!
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Enjoyed another walk along the Ashuelot. Woodpeckers holes are as interesting as the woodpeckers themselves. Woodpeckers are talkers and I love to listen to them as I walk in the woods. Some of the calls are jungle sounding. Your information about the holes shows that the holes talk too if you hear the story they are telling about who created them. Wonderful post.
I’m glad you enjoyed it-after all, that’s what these postings are there for.
When I saw the large rectangular hole my first thought was that an owl was living in it because of the bits of fur, but I rejected that idea because I thought owls were much too big for the hole. Then I discovered on your blog this morning that some owls are as small as a robin! It’s interesting how all of this seems to mesh together.
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I haven’t seen any hornbeam in NH, though there was plenty of it in VA. Our Pathfinder club camps in West Swanzy every now and then, right along the Ash. I’ll have to look for some next time we’re there.
If you know where the fire house is in West Swanzey, right next to the covered bridge, there is an area on the river bank that was cleared recently so they could remove the homestead woolen mill dam. There is an area that has been planted with small evergreens that has a sort of driveway to park in. If you follow the small path beside the river south and keep looking left into the woods, you’ll see hornbeam. Actually, you should find them just about anywhere along the Ashuelot.
Yes, I know the bridge. It’s very close to where we’ve camped (The Ash River Campground, just north of there). I did some geocaching in that vicinity too (though one of the caches was a “did-not-find”). I expect we’ll camp there again sometime in the next three years, and I’ll look for the hornbeams then. Thanks!
I’ve never heard of the campground, but that doesn’t really surprise me because I used to just go off into the woods or climb any one of a number of different hills to camp. I don’t think I’ve ever camped in an actual campground.
We use campgrounds when we have our conference camporees. Facilities are sort of a requirement when your group has over 200 people in it.
I prefer camping in the wild, but that’s only appropriate with a small group.
Wow, I’ve never camped with that many people.
That’s small for a camporee – Northern New England is a small conference. There are some clubs in the bigger conferences that have more kids in them than our entire conference.
Every five years we have a national camporee in Oshkosh, WI. The last one had 35,000 campers. It’s a very different experience than a regular campout.
I don’t think I could handle 35,000 campers. That’s more than all the people living in Keene. 200 might be bearable, but I’m not even sure about that. I enjoy solitude too much to do much in the way of camping in huge numbers I think, but I’ll bet it’s fun for people who don’t mind crowds. I’m sure you must meet a lot of interesting people.
Those Camporees are more like conventions in which we sleep in tents rather than camping trips. They are a lot of fun because I get to see a lot of my Internet Pathfinder friends there. But not a whole lot of campcraft goes on. For that we have club camping trips, or backpacking trips.
And now that I’ve gone off and said I hadn’t seen a hornbeam in NH, I remember that I HAVE – there’s one in a park in Concord that I had forgotten all about. I guy I used to work with taught at the community music school near the park, and one of his students brought in a branch plucked from the tree (with the hop-hornbeam flowers attached) wanting an ID. He didn’t know, but thought I would. And I did. 🙂
But I assume this is a cultivated tree rather than a wild one. I still haven’t seen any WILD hornbeams in NH. But I will keep my eyes open and make an all-out search next time I’m in W. Swanzey.
Hornbeams are confusing. The American or eastern hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) isn’t the same tree as American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). Throw in the European, Japanese, and Chinese varieties and you can really get confused.
They are also apparently very fussy about where they grow. If you head north upriver from Ashuelot Park in Keene you can see them all over the place on the left side of the river, but on the right side of it there are few if any. I think it’s because the left side is lower and traps runoff, rainwater, and occasional flooding, so it’s much wetter soil.
Next time you’re in Keene you should visit the park. I’m sure that you would see a lot a familiar things.