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!).

Puzzling Piece

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?

Answer

This bark was pierced by a yellow-bellied sapsucker, then flung aside by a second woodpecker species in its efforts to access the bugs in a downed log (see below). Sapsuckers create neat rows of holes called sapwells then, according to Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website, “lap up the sugary sap along with any insects that may get caught there.”

This week’s contest winner was Sandie Sabaka