Wasps Cicadas Birds

Looks innocent enough.
And, really, it is. These clumps of dirt?
Wasp nests.I counted 26 in this patch.
Cicada-killer Wasps. As I like to say, they’re not going to bother you much if you’re not a cicada. Sure, the boys can get territorial, but don’t they always?
Check out this one eyeballing this nesting field…
This Northern Mockingbird has a cicada!
How do you suppose it captured is?
I didn’t see the actual interception, but I think, based on what I saw last summer, the bird stole it from a wasp who was bringing it back to her nest. All that hard flying!
This is where I saw the cicada-napping last year. For several years, this bank was home to cicada nests, but this year there’s no nest-building activity to be seen. Is the grass to tall/thick?