What in the Woods is That?

Reader Jude Eldridge shared this photo (taken by her husband, Bill Duffy) of flies stuck to the underside of a beech leaf. What’s happening here?

On a recent walk through the woods, we saw what appeared to be a leaf crawling across another leaf. What is this?

A reader found these bright red forms among the leaf litter and spring ephemerals near the Northern Woodlands office, in an east-facing cove forest of mature sugar maple and ash trees. What are these?

A Northern Woodlands staff member was walking along a river in Virginia when she found this sweet-smelling, multicolored goo dripping down the side of a toppled stump, directly under some…

We found this mound, and four others just like it – each measuring approximately 2 to 3 inches wide, and each spaced at least a foot from the others – on a sandy hill in Thetford, Vermont.…

A reader in central Vermont found this black, bumpy structure, about 5 inches long, nestled in patch of forest floor where snow had recently receded. Mutant pinecone? Sleeping porcupine? What is this?

High up in a steep stand of sugar maples, we found pieces of what appeared to be old metal roofing that someone, years ago, had lined up to create a chute. What is this?

Reader Barry Wicklow found these slalom-like tracks through the snow on the edge of the woods in southern New Hampshire. What happened here?

Maine State Entomologist Allison Kanoti shared this image with us. Although these two things may appear to be similar – and they were found side by side on a cherry tree – they are…

A Northern Woodlands staff member found this creature crawling across a sunny patch of Vermont woods in late February, 2021. What is it?

Reader Lori van Handel found this impression in the snow on the side of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, Massachusetts – and saw the bird that made it. What happened here? And what’s your best…

With snow blanketing much of the Northeast, there’s not much color in the woods right now. However, if you happen to be out in a hemlock grove, you just might spot one of these shiny,…

While walking in a field, we encountered the winter forms of three common weeds. Can you identify them?

We spotted this only partially-frozen circular spot amid newly formed ice on the Ompompanoosuc River. What happened here?

Reader Frederick Thurber found this mass of tough, fibrous material stuck firmly between two logs in his woodpile. What is this?

Reader Peter Thompson recently discovered this worm – and odd yellow blobs – in damp soil under a barrel on his property in Thetford, Vermont. What type of worm is this? And what are the…

Many invasive woody plants in our area retain their leaves well into autumn, making this a good time to identify them for future control efforts. Can you name each of these six species?

Reader Kirk Gentalen shared this photo, snapped in the woods of Mid-Coast Maine after a rainy day in early fall. What is this?

While walking along a forest trail in Strafford, Vermont, we noticed these charred zombie fingers poking out of an old hardwood snag – and took a photo before making a run for it. What are these?

Reader Mary Heide shared this photo of a maple leaf with “strange spikes sticking out of it,” which she found at her home in Taylor County, Wisconsin. What is happening here?