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!).

Totally Tubular

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?

Answer

This is a spur from a red columbine flower, perhaps detached by an insect trying to access the nectar inside. While hummingbirds and long-tongued insects can reach that nectar (and are the main pollinators of this native woodland plant), sometimes other insects chew holes in the spurs to get to it.

This week’s contest winner was Louise Rickard