What in the Woods is That?

This fledgling bird was found in an old apple orchard covered with grape vines and bordered by forest, about 660 feet above sea level, on June 24th. What species is it?

A reader in Stony Creek, New York, submitted this photo of a bubbly substance at the base of a yellow birch. What’s brewing here?

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?

A reader in the Finger Lakes region of New York sent in this photo of flowers he’d never spotted before. What are they?

While driving north from New York City to New Hampshire, reader Liam Coyle spotted this large flock flying overhead, just after crossing into Connecticut on I-95. What are these birds?

We found this ear poking out from some logs and twitching now and then as it monitored outside activity. Whose ear is it? (Thanks to Tig Tillinghast for the photo).

Reader Tammis Coffin spotted this leaf-like form attached to a standing dead tree in western Massachusetts. What is it?

What made the scratch marks on this maple branch?

Strange impressions. What made these tracks in the woods?

Northern Woodlands reader Pat Liddle took this photograph on her property in Canaan, New York. The linear impressions in the snow on the left side of the photo had this experienced wildlife…

While snowshoeing in central Vermont, we found a number of these sideways scrapes on hardwood trees by a talus slope. What made these marks?

Reader Tammis Coffin sent in this photo of a somewhat hairy thing tucked into the crevice of a beech tree in western Massachusetts. What is it?

What caused the horizontal split in this maple tree?

Ben Kilham at the Kilham Bear Center in Lyme, New Hampshire, found this quarter-sized structure under the bark of a pine log. What is it?

Ducky dance moves? We came across this mallard twisting himself into some strange – and impressive – positions. What on earth is this duck doing?

We found this holey orb-like structure on a dried stalk near the edge of the woods. What happened here?

We found a bush covered in these fluff balls at the edge of a field. What plant is this?

Reader Tammis Coffin snapped this photo of a curved, twisted-topped pod in western Massachusetts. What is it?

A boy went into the woods and came home with his shirt and pants covered with these clingy customers. What are they?

This fallen sugar maple leaf was one of many, discovered in close proximity, marked with odd rings of faded color – and a few holes. What’s happening here?