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!).

What Walter Found

Our Executive Director found these in his garden. Is this Animal? Or Botanical?

Answer

We accepted botanical, though some astute readers pointed out that fungi, having their own kingdom, aren’t botanical at all.

More specifically, this is a bird’s nest fungi (also known as splash cup fungi); it’s smaller than a dime. The “eggs” contain spores that are splashed out of the “nest” by raindrops. Attached to the base of each egg is a tiny cord with a sticky base that allows the egg, once in flight, to attach itself to surrounding vegetation.

This week’s contest winner was Richard Aaron of Toronto, Canada