looks similar to yellow bellied sapsucker damage
MM

I was thinking woodpecker but they generally peck dead wood; perhaps MM has it. In any case it doesn't look like a borer. Notice its all on limbs easy for a bird to stand on. Also borers are generally right by the ground.

Scott

michael357, you got to use the wire when the sap is flowing like at bloom time. If you slide the wire in you know borers were there if not Woody. The lesser borer will just eat the top of the branches from about where those holes are up the branches. They don't kill the tree. The regular peach tree borer goes by the base and can girdle a tree.

They resemble the sapsucker holes in trees hereabouts. But the holes are typically far more numerous. Perhaps your bird is testing for suitability?

Michael:

That looks like mechanical damage to me. Any kids with BB guns in your neighborhood?

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I was thinking birdshot from a shotgun?

Jellyman: besides me? Upon closer, more insightful examination, all of the wounds are on the upper limb surfaces. I like the bird explanation, they'd stand on the branch though I've certainly seen woodpeckers in all positions on a branch pecking away. I was originally thinking the lesser borer because they supposedly attack the scaffolds, not the trunk base which is what I have.

Ace: I didn't this would be the time to try probing the worm out but it was a slow day.

As my old friend from Tennessee used to say, "Looks like you've got a pecker-head". Don't know why but many birds seem to like fruit trees to peck at. Guess they have tasty bugs. Doesn't seem to bother the tree though. Seen apples with rings of holes an inch apart on every surface just growing merrily along. Do think it might make them more susceptible to certain diseases though. Adjust your spraying regimen accordingly.