This photo is less than stellar, but the behavior is too interesting not to share.

Mark called me over to the window a few days ago to tell me that a bird was eating my praying mantis egg cases.  Sure enough, this little Downy Woodpecker was pecking away at the spongy blobs coating my peach tree twigs.

Generally, I like praying mantises (even though the ones I have are invasive species).  But my rule of thumb is that even if an animal is eating a beneficial insect, that's a good sign because it means I've created a quality ecosystem that can support top level predators.

I wonder how many of my other egg cases have been mined out?  And I also wonder if the mantis eggs have hatched into tiny mantises, spurring this attack.  I guess only the woodpeckers know for sure.