What in the Woods Is That?

Play our biweekly guessing game!

Whatever draws us into the forest—be it birdwatching or logging, hiking or hunting—all of us are unified by the sense of wonder we feel in the outdoors. The forests, fields, and streams of our region are full of mystery, and if you stop and look closely, you’ll see all sorts of oddities.

Below find a picture of one such woodlands curio. Guess what it is and you’ll be eligible to win a Northern Woodlands woodpecker magnet designed by artist Liz Wahid. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner’s name, will appear when the next column is posted and in our newsletter (sign up here!).

A Mess in the Woods

We found these splintery wood chips scattered across the snow beneath a sugar maple in a Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, forest. What happened here?

Answer

A pileated woodpecker excavated holes in the tree, likely on the hunt for insects or overwintering larvae. To learn more about pileated woodpeckers, check out this essay from our Outside Story series.

This week’s contest winner was Heather Goesch