Death in the Pines ...

... or at least on my deck.

My brother and his family came to visit this past Thursday. Thus I spruced the place up a bit. So it was with a bit of surprise that I spotted this Friday morning, right outside the door:

I'm sure that I would have noticed, and cleaned it up, had it been there Thursday.

Now just above was a Paper Wasp nest. And sure enough it was now in taters.

And there was a dead and partially eaten wasp in the debris below.

I thought it unlikely that I'd be able to determine the perpetrator. But much to my surprise, they returned to the scene of the crime.

An Eastern Phoebe. I caught it casing the joint, although as there wasn't much left of interest, just one no doubt pissed wasp, so it did not linger.