Blessed with Birds and Shawl Finished

Mourning doves are back and still in mourning if their woeful coos are to be believed.  The poor things have landed on the watch list of endangered species and I think I have an inkling why.  Their nest building is sadly lacking in skill; a few twigs and leaves barely flung together so that an egg or chick could certainly slip through and apparently often do.  It is a rather sweet bird though, perhaps too passive for its own good.  At the feeder they will always give way even to the much smaller chickadees.  Perhaps another reason they are on the watch list. They are faring well here though; I have counted up to a dozen on the ground at a time.
 In the photo above I was able to capture some of the American goldfinches that are around in great numbers as well as one of the juncos which are also quite plentiful.  I think that is a white-throated sparrow happily pecking in amongst them.  I see a couple of white-crowned sparrows in the back yard which are a little more striking looking.  Yesterday I watched two cedar waxwings high in the birch tree; we always seem to have one pair around but not more. I heard and then saw an Eastern Phoebe.  They have had a nest for years over the light down at the garage building; it is quite tall now.  I will try to photograph it to show you later.  I read in the local paper that there was a concern about the male phoebes being here already because they are ahead of the insects that make up their main diet.  The late spring has been tough for so many creatures.

In other news...

 Another shawl is finished.  It took four balls of wool and half of another to crochet the edging all around.  It is a little heavy which I'm hoping will be a good thing when cool shawl-wearing weather returns.