The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a woodpecker that is only in my woods during the winter. Showing off a speckled look, rather than the striking black, white and red that I usually see on woodpeckers.

They leave marks on tree trunks that look to be a cryptic messages to some other part of the natural world. Rows of dots carefully placed.

These dots though are actually sap wells. The Sapsuckers drill the sap wells into the xylem tissue, where the sap is transported from roots up to branches of a tree. They dine on the sap, as well as insects that are attracted to, and often trapped in the sap.

I love to see the designs that they create in the tree trunks. So neat and tidy.