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!).

The Great Splotch Mystery

Reader Ellen Snyder took this picture last weekend at College Woods in Durham, New Hampshire. What is this dark splotch?

Answer

We had a variety of guesses for this one, including frog spawn, black slime mold, vermicompost, staymat gravel, unused black powder, and our favorite, “Uncle Jed was out shooting his gun again and up come some bubblin’ crude.”

Of course, what you’re really looking at are tens of thousands of springtails, also known as snow fleas. To learn more about these tiny hexapods, click here.

This week’s contest winner was Richard Wolniewicz of Magnolia, MA