Bald-Faced Hornet Nest

I spotted this hornet's nest high overhead in the branches of a maple tree. The bald-faced hornet actually belongs to a genus of yellow jackets in North America, but unlike many congeners it lacks yellow coloring. Instead, it is called a hornet in the American sense of a wasp that builds paper nests. It is best known for its large, football-shaped paper nest, which it builds in the spring to rear young and which the females will aggressively defend with its ability to repeatedly sting perceived threats.