I do not think in the mud puddle theory. There is a moat right to the right where rain would drain. There is also no depression for holding any puddle.
I think there is a depression in the treeline and grass and also slightly on the road. I would say that there has been a broken/bend tree/bush laying in the way for over a year and was recently removed. There is no debre left, as the grass was also cut recently by a machine that also could have picked up any leaves.
Along with picking up mountain/gravelbiking/cycling past few years, yes, absolutely, one of the most gratifying accidental discoveries in my lifetime. I only started doing it because our local managing agencies left the neighborhood park a shambles. It was closed for quite a while. Wound up using my historical GPS data to retrace some favorite segments and now I'm hooked. I grew up outdoors in a big way but lived in cities for decades. Completely lost touch with this part of my soul. I'm currently clearing coyote trails so we can walk through the maze behind my mom's property so I'm now getting in at least a little walk every day. I see wildlife all the time. Can blather on forever about it.