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!).
We found what appeared to be scraps of dinosaur skin under the leaves by a stream. What is this?
Thallose liverwort, a type of ancient plant that grows only a few cells thick. You can read more about it in this December 2020 entry from our This Week in the Woods series.
This week’s contest winner was Donald Weidner