I've had a dwarf red delicious apple tree in my back yard since 1999. It gives many apples each year. Leaves look healthy. Branches have been growing every year. I've noticed these weird black/brown decayed looking patches on some of the branches over the past few years. It hasn't seemed to affect the tree's health so I haven't looked into it. But now I'm concerned because the number of these areas are increasing. I've snapped a picture of the area in question. I'll try to get better pictures tomorrow. Also, I found something else on the tree that was weird too. Any idea what these things are? Are they bad? Do I need to do anything? Thanks in advance.

Here is a link that might be useful: The photos