Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: I have a tree that has badly deteriorated bark, 3 by BigRich1950

BigRich1950 wrote:
I bought a piece of property about ten and one half years ago and there was a very small maple tree on it. I landscaped and put a border around it and some landscape stone.

A few years ago we had a drought and I didn’t notice until the following year that the bark was badly damaged from my oversight and neglect. Yet, the tree grows a little and has leaves each year.

This year a new problem arose and it baffles me. It is a maple tree and of course has pointed maple leaf shaped leaves. The other day I was looking for the nest of some fledgling birds that I saw and noticed a growth on a branch of the maple tree about ten feet off the ground and definitely growing out of on of the maple tree’s branches and it is a somewhat circular bunch of little branches with oval shaped leaves.

See attached pictures (the pictures uploaded out of order but they are pretty self-explanatory)…
So, I have three questions.
1. What is the strange growth coming out of the maple tree’s branch?
2. What should I do with the growth?
3. Is there any hope to save the bark on this tree and if so, how?