What in the Woods is That?

Who raided a cornfield, took out a patch of stalks, and dragged them down into the wetlands?

This chunk of bark, which stood out against a backdrop of fallen brown leaves, seems to be a missing piece of a puzzle. What happened here?

We found what appeared to be scraps of dinosaur skin under the leaves by a stream. What is this?

We’ve reached that point of autumn where there seem to be as many leaves on the ground as there are left clinging to trees and shrubs and vines. A quick leaf-gathering walk near the Northern…

We found these funky fungi with curled back, slimy caps growing in a mixed hardwood stand in central Vermont. What are these?

Geologist Peter Thompson photographed these rocks in East Thetford, Vermont. What is the rock type, and what would you call structures like this?

This time of year, summer’s bounty of blooming things is transitioning from flower to fruit. The first image was shared by Bruce Lindwall of Craftsbury, Vermont, who wrote, “There may be…

Reader John Ford of Laconia, New Hampshire, shared the top photo of “strange deposits on a beech tree” the same day Jim Cummings of Kennebunk, Maine, sent in the bottom photo of a similar…

The barred owl’s call is often described as sounding like Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all? Owls don’t cook at all, of course, but this one (photographed by reader Sandy Dannis)…

Reader Tammis Coffin sent in this mystery macro photo of something she spotted on a rainy day in the woods of Mariaville, Maine, early this month. What is this?

This fledgling bird was found in an old apple orchard covered with grape vines and bordered by forest, about 660 feet above sea level, on June 24th. What species is it?

A reader in Stony Creek, New York, submitted this photo of a bubbly substance at the base of a yellow birch. What’s brewing here?

Reader Tammis Coffin found this colorful tube (and several others like it) on the ground last month at Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Is it a fairy’s trumpet? Nope. What is it?

A reader in the Finger Lakes region of New York sent in this photo of flowers he’d never spotted before. What are they?

While driving north from New York City to New Hampshire, reader Liam Coyle spotted this large flock flying overhead, just after crossing into Connecticut on I-95. What are these birds?

We found this ear poking out from some logs and twitching now and then as it monitored outside activity. Whose ear is it? (Thanks to Tig Tillinghast for the photo).

Reader Tammis Coffin spotted this leaf-like form attached to a standing dead tree in western Massachusetts. What is it?

What made the scratch marks on this maple branch?

Strange impressions. What made these tracks in the woods?

Northern Woodlands reader Pat Liddle took this photograph on her property in Canaan, New York. The linear impressions in the snow on the left side of the photo had this experienced wildlife…