when birds clash

Right now there is a pretty rowdy show, as all the birds display and figure out territory. We got to watch a hummingbird bug a woodpecker who was trying to set up a sounding board out of a nearby telephone pole. The young woodpecker was chased off and the hummingbird returned to watchfulness. Our new hummingbird feeders appear to have had the effect of attracting aggressive hummingbird that now chase off the other bird species. The downside of nature being so interconnected.
The same effect is seen when people feed birds at a duck pond, or in their backyards. The pushiest birds chase off everything else from the new resource, and the diversity decreases. human will not stop feeding wildlife, but its funny how the effect is often the opposite of what was intended.

It was kind of strange to see this night heron out during the day. I think he was keeping an eye on the fishermen on the opposite bank to make sure they were catching his dinner. I occasionally see him in the twilight. This is a bad picture but I only had the smartphone on hand to snap a quick pic. The striking thing about him was the little mullet these guys have on the back of their head, gives them a lot of character

There are a lot of shield bugs right now, going by names like "stink bugs, squash bugs, asssasin beetles,etc. They are migrating to delicate plants to suck the juices out of. The heavy wind right now seems to blow them off course easily

A lot of different dragonflies in the ditch mating and laying eggs in the water. Almost all of them seem to be a variation on blue.