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Birdseye Maple Trees
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:53 PM.
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:53 PM.
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:54 PM.
There is a fair amount of birdseye around here and I've seen a lot in wood decks over the years, and in the woods. Birdseye is kind of funny. Sometimes you got the characteristic dents and the coke bottle bottom but when you cut the tree, no eyes. Some birdseye don't show up in the bark. Some birdseye is what they call thumbnail, which has bark pockets in the eye. Not worth much except to a crafter type. Highest price is for veneer but also goes by number of eyes. If it has only 7 eyes or less in a 3"x5" square, than no extra money. I saw one log once 14" diameter and 12'8" go for $800. I've heard of prices of $25 per board foot for a log on the landing, but that is for an outstanding log.
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:54 PM.
Kevin, I haven't seen that paper but I saw another one about a decade ago from the USFS and Michigan Tech forestry school professors. I can spot a potential birdseye tree from 75 feet away, I've been doing for so long. I've heard that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan produces 90% of the birdseye. There is quite a bit here but quality isn't alway there. Another way to tell is on the end after it is cut the eyes will appear as lighter rays coming out from the center towards the outside. So it is easy to scan a whole deck of sugar logs to see one. Some say the tree experienced stress at some point in it's life but that isn't the whole answer. Where I find it, often there are more than one. Sometimes a half dozen or more trees. I see them most often on rocky sites or right on the wetter edge where the sugar maple changes to red maple type, but they can occur on a rich site too. I've got a dozen or so on my own land. It's better than money in the bank.
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:54 PM.
Yeah Kevin you could have some. I find it sometimes near bedrock outcrops more than boulders though. There is a forester here that worked in New Hampshire and says there is more curly grain there than here. It is harder to see in the bark. Much more subtle. Here that is more in the soft maple. Sometimes it is just in the stump up a couple feet and ends there. Curly brings good money but not as much as birdseye. The Japanese went nuts over birdseye 10 years ago and were all over the place here buying it. I don't know if they still like it as much or not but don't hear of japanese buyers any more around here.
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Last edited by Maple Hill Sugarhouse; 12-01-2008 at 02:54 PM.
Yeah it's true, there is a fair amount of birdseye here. I found 3 yesterday while cruising timber. They were all poor quality with rotten seams. A guy with a woodmizer might make money on them. I am going to borrow a digital camera later after the leaves are down to take pictures of my sugarhouse. At the same time, I will post birdseye pictures. I have four nice typical ones at the base of a north slope like you say. They really show the eyes in the bark and have the "coke bottle" base. I don't plan on tapping those.
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