Bushtit Nest

I am going to be a grandmother again! The Bushtits have built a nest in one of my hanging baskets. I have seen them going to and from this plant very frequently of late, but it never dawned on me that they might be building a nest there until yesterday. I almost pulled the thing out thinking it was dead debris from the plant! I bought this plant last November and it is pretty much done blooming for this year, so there are a lot of dead branches in it. Imagine my surprise when I realized this was not debris but a nest!

Bushtits are very small gray-brown birds that most of the year gather in flocks, and travel from bush to bush, cleaning the bugs off all of the branches and leaves. (My roses have had no aphids this year.) They can look quite comical as they hang upside down to get at the insects and spiders. They are very sociable birds and will twitter to each other to keep in contact. You will hear them before you see them because they are so small and move so fast.

In the spring they pair off and mate with both parents sharing in the parental duties. They also sometimes get help in feeding their young from other Bushtits and may even build communal nests. The nest is a long, pendulous affair and apparently very warm and snug inside. For some great photos showing the construction of Bushtit nests go here.

I have only one pair (so far) in this nest and suspect that the eggs may have been laid but not hatched yet. I wondered why they picked this spot as the basket really swings in the breeze and we have been having a lot of windy days recently. However, it does offer complete protection from the neighbor's cats and other predators, except for stupid humans like me!

By the way, this basket had three plants in it when I bought it. Two were in bloom already and the third one bloomed just a few weeks ago. I have no idea what this plant is and if anyone out there knows, I'd appreciate a comment.

Meals in Minutes

My sister called me the other night when I was in the middle of making my dinner. I thought she might like to see how it turned out. It was delicious, Sis!

Those are duck legs covered with sweet Vidalia onions and a watercress garnish. The flan was made with lovely small zucchini from the farm stand and raw sheep's milk cheese and fresh eggs. The salad consists of Belgian endive and a tangelo with flaxseed oil dressing. The recipe can be found in the Turkey and Duck issue of Time/Life's Great Meals in Minutes. (You can get it now for $0.01!)

This series came out in the 80s and was a mainstay of my cooking repertoire for a long time. The recipes are all for four people and everything is made from scratch including chopping your own fresh herbs. Naturally, this takes time and we used to joke that yeah, it's meals in minutes, but they don't tell you how many! The meals are designed by a variety of chefs and are very creative. I plan to pass this set of cookbooks on to my daughter someday. By the way, this meal really was a meal-in-minutes. It took only 60 and that included chatting with my sister on the phone while I cooked.

The whole meal was inspired by two things: the duck was on sale, and I just finished reading Nina Planck's book, Real Food. Planck espouses my own philosophy of diet and nutrition which I stated earlier, and that is, just eat whole foods and don't worry too much about counting things like calories, carbs, etc. Planck has read all the books that I have read and then some and has taken the time to delve deeper into the research and has come up with an excellent synthesis of a very complex subject. She will tell you what both sides of a controversy say (for example, whether or not to eat grains or dairy) and then tell you what she does, leaving you to decide for yourself what you want to do, but with a strong hint that she leans a certain way! She writes about food in such an appealing manner that I just wanted to run out and buy some new ingredients and try a new recipe.

If you want to know what to eat in this bewildering world of conflicting advice, and you want to read only one book, I recommend this one.

Omega-3s

A recent news article about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids caught my attention.

A type of omega-3 fatty acid may slow the growth of two brain lesions that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, UC Irvine scientists have discovered. The finding suggests that diets rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can help prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease later in life.

This news is not surprising since the brain is an astonishing 60 percent fat, of which half is docosahexaeonic acid or DHA. DHA is found only in fish. The reason that I was struck by this finding is because my father died of Alzheimer's (or senile dementia) and so did his two brothers. (They tend to call all forms of old age forgetfulness Alzheimer's now.) All three were in their eighties when they died. Their father, my grandfather, also had some kind of dementia in old age. But the interesting thing is that he came from Newfoundland where his father and grandfather going back three more generations were all fishermen. They settled in an outport on Conception Bay called Bull Cove. (Bull Cove is abandoned now and the photo shows how it looked to my cousin when she made a trip there in the 90s.) They lived for and by cod. They ate fish daily I'm sure. And when they weren't eating fish, they were eating berries which are abundant on the island—blueberries and partridge berries in particular—and full of antioxidants.

My siblings and cousins have asked me if I have found any evidence of the disease being hereditary in my genealogy research, but before my grandfather, there is no record of it. Records from Newfoundland are scanty, of course, and my great-grandfather died of pneumonia at sea at the young age of 32 years. We don't know what he might have died of had he lived into old age. Life was hard in Newfoundland, and still is. The progenitor of the family, who came to Newfoundland from England, died at 77 after "after a long and painful illness, which he bore with resignation to the Divine." Whatever it was, it doesn't sound like Alzheimer's.

After reading the above Science Daily article I thought that perhaps it was all the fish that they ate that might have protected my Newfoundland ancestors from the disease. Omega-3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory need to be balanced with omega-6 fatty acids. Our modern American diet is way too high in omega-6s due to grain and seed oils like corn, safflower, etc. and due to the fact that our beef is grain- and corn-fed and not grass-fed. The ideal ratio between these two fats would be 1 to 1 but even the USDA recommends a ratio of 6s to 3s of 10 to 1 and most Americans get a much higher ratio than that, as much as 30 to 1 according to some sources.

If DHA is important at the end of life it is equally, if not vitally, important at the beginning of life. 50 percent of the calories in breast milk come from fat which is essential to the baby's growth and development. In particular, the DHA in the milk promotes brain and eye development. A pregnant woman or nursing mother would do well to keep her own supply up by eating plenty of fish. But now women are warned not to eat certain fish because of the mercury found in fish, especially tuna, shark, and swordfish. This has had the unfortunate result that some women may not eat any fish at all.

Luckily, there is a remedy: fish oil capsules and good old-fashioned cod liver oil. These oils have no mercury in them. Small fish like herring and mackerel are safe, too. Although they contain mercury, there is a huge difference between the amount found in them and the amount found in the larger fishes. There are also some fish that are farmed and therefore herbivorous like trout and tilapia that would be good choices if you are worried about mercury.

I myself take cod liver oil daily (1 teaspoon) plus one fish oil capsule. That way I don't get too much vitamin A or D. The cod liver oil is lemon-flavored and doesn't taste at all like the stuff my mother forced on me when I was young. (But thanks, Mom.) And I feel like I am continuing in the tradition of my ancestors.

Knitting News

Ahem! Drum roll please... I have finished River! And it's beautiful! I know, it took me long enough. I can't tell you how many times I had to frog back because I had lost a stitch or gained a stitch and with this yarn, Rowan Kidsilk Haze, you frog back three times as slowly as you knit. It loves to felt. The pattern was not that hard, but since it was my first experience knitting lace, I struggled with it. I used the Options needles, size 10.5, from KnitPicks because they are very smooth and very pointy which makes knitting 2 or 3 tog easy, but they are also very slippery, especially with this yarn, and that is probably what led to my dropping stitches. I have no idea how I could have gained a stitch. Anyway, when I switched to bamboo for a few rows, the yarn would stick and was getting stressed so I switched back.

My daughter helped me to take this picture and dropped lots of hints about how pretty it was and how she "loved" how it came out, so I think I will be knitting another lace shawl soon but with a different pattern. Luckily I bought extra yarn just for this purpose when Sakonnet Purls was having their sale last December.

But now I am moving on to a few summer projects. My daughter gave me some Gedifra pattern books for Christmas and I have chosen two patterns to do. The first is 706 from Highlights 051. It is made with Gedifra's California Like and California Color. I plan to make it a little smaller than the pattern in the book but with exactly the same yarn which I purchased from Royal Yarns.

The photo on the left does not show the color very well so here is another photo of what I have accomplished so far with the California Like. California Color will be used to crochet flowers that will fit into the diagonal space. It should knit up pretty fast on 10.5 needles. The little ribbons that are attached every 3 inches or so are a nuisance but the Options needles seem to be working very well for this one. You have to stop every 4 rows to bring the ribbons to the right side, but I like the effect. The yarn is 50% cotton, 47% Acrylic, and 3% Polymide. I hope it won't be too heavy.

The other pattern is 848 from Highlights 061. I chose this one because it has cables and I haven't knitted cables since I was in high school. It'll be fun to try it again. The yarn for this one is Top Soft. It's 40% Viscose, 40% Polymide, and 20% Silk and is indeed very soft. I think I am really going to enjoy working with it.

Spring Festival of Flowers

Monday, Kathy and I went to Descanso Gardens to see what was blooming. This is an annual event for us. We have to time it around my concert schedule and her travel plans (she just got back from Egypt), but we try to make it sometime in early April. Of course, I take along my camera and I end up taking several hundred pictures—249 to be exact for this year. Don't worry, I am not going to post them all, just a few to give you the idea.

Every time we go to the gardens, we say that we should come back at other times of the year to see what might be blooming in the summer or early winter, but spring just can't be beat for the number of flowers everywhere, not only the usual ones you think of—camellias, tulips, roses, but the more unusual plants, the natives, and especially the flowering trees.

This has been an unusual spring for us in Southern California due to an extremely dry winter and early warm weather. As I mentioned in a previous post, the White-crowned Sparrows left two weeks earlier than usual this year. Well, the tulips at Descanso bloomed two weeks earlier than usual this year and so we missed seeing them at their height. This is not really a good indication of weather patterns, though, because the tulips are dug up and re-planted every year. It just means somebody didn't see what was coming and planted them too soon. The lilacs were in full bloom as were the azaleas pretty much right on schedule. However, the roses hadn't quite gotten started yet. The Camellias were still blooming with lots of unopened buds ready and waiting. There was a lot of dust and pollen on the leaves of these sensitive plants. They looked like they would have dearly loved getting washed off by a nice spring rain.

In the native plant area, the redbuds were just finishing up what looks like was another spectacular display. Several varieties of Freemontodendron were also in full bloom, as were the "California Lilacs" or Ceanothus. This is the area that Kathy likes the most and we were saddened to see that it was in need of some tender loving care. Kathy just couldn't resist the temptation to pull a few weeds and pick off a few dead flowers.


This one is for my young friend Iris. I think purple is her favorite color.

Even though the tulips were "finished" according to some people, I happen to like faded blooms and find them fascinating. The workmen were already busy digging up the bulbs, but I managed to get a few shots of the remaining flowers. The tulip on the right looks like it came out of a 16th century Flemish painting, complete with bug. On some flowers, the petals open wide and then start to curl back. When you get a whole bed of bright red tulips all like this, it is beautiful. Another variety sort of disintegrated turning into a lace-leaf pattern that was quite striking.







If I go bananas over wisteria, I get positively mentally deranged over lilacs. (It's the smell.) Ordinarily lilacs would not do well here because we do not get frosts but Descanso has hybridized their own species of lilacs for Southern California and maintains a garden area of over 500 plants. Kathy, being a Southern California native, has gotten used to my effusiveness when we finally reach the lilac garden at the end of our day.

Bolsa Chica

Yesterday afternoon I went down to Bolsa Chica to see the changes that have been made since I was last there. (Egad! that was in 2002! Where did the time go?) Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach, CA, is an ecological reserve of tidal mudflats that has some of the best birding in the country. The number of birds and the number of species one can see here is "fabulous."

Bolsa Chica is part of the Pacific Flyway, the "River of Migrating Birds" that extends from Alaska and the Aleutian Islands in the north to the tip of Argentina in the south. Each year millions of birds make this trip twice! The Southern California coastline offers over 19 bays and estuaries that provide a rest stop and feeding ground for these mighty travellers. Sadly, this is only 10% of the coastal wetlands that used to be available for birds. What makes for a good rest stop for birds also makes a good harbor and scenic spot on which man likes to build houses. Bolsa Chica is one place where many people have worked tirelessly to prevent that from happening to this site.

My husband and I have birded here since we got hooked on birdwatching in the 90s. We were one of the first to contribute to the Land Trust which has been so successful in preserving this treasure. One of the more recent things they have done and which was the reason for my trip is to remove the dam that had kept the sea water from flowing in and out of the mudflat area with the tides. You can see the opening in the far right corner of this photo. I wanted to see what changes this made in the habits of the birds. I was pleasantly surprised.

It was a glorious, sunny, but windy afternoon. I parked my car in the small parking area in the middle of the reserve as you enter from Pacific Coast Highway. There is a boardwalk here that crosses the water and allows views of either end of the traditional area that the reserve owned. Now 880 acres have been added including the tidal areas further in from the ocean which used to be oil fields. That didn't stop the birds, but the fences kept the people out. Now it is all open with only some posted signs to warn you of nesting areas. You walk along the top of berms that separate the various areas which also gives you a good view of the birds as it is otherwise all very flat and wide open to the sky and with very little vegetation.

I first spotted a stingray in the water below the bridge and lots of clam shells along the shoreline that I hadn't noticed before. Algae along the edges of the water indicated that the tide was out. A Belding's Savannah Sparrow, only found in Southern California salt marshes, greeted me in exactly the same location that we had always seen these sparrows. A man coming towards me from the other direction saw my camera and excitedly told me that I could get great photos further along where the terns were roosting for the day. He was not a birder and was clearly bowled over by the experience of seeing hundreds of birds suddenly take off into the air on some unheard cue, then settle back down again. It's also amazing how they can fly in perfect formation with each other, turning the same way in an instant.

It was very windy out on the point where some metal benches had been erected for viewing. But cold though I was, I was fascinated by watching the show that the terns were putting on and also by the chance to see so many other shorebirds from this one spot. The terns were making a terrible racket as they took off and settled back down several times. While the takeoff was a scramble as the top picture shows, the birds being alarmed into flight, the landing was more carefully controlled with each bird landing just so far from his neighbor and all facing into the sun and wind. Some cormorants quietly lined the edge of the flat the terns were settled on with the air of being above all the ruckus. A man came along who lost his hat in the wind and when he went down into the forbidden area to retrieve it, the birds rose into the air one more time but this time they did not come back.

I moved on to the path that led to the flood control channel thinking I had seen more than enough for one day, but I was so wrong. The channel was full of ducks. I had not expected to see many ducks. It was like greeting old friends. I am a little rusty especially when it comes to ducks. The names swirled around in my head as I remembered them one by one.

Here is a listing of all the species that I saw. There were 35 in all.

Elegant Tern

Royal Tern

Caspian Tern

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Brown Pelican

Ring-billed Gull

American Coot

Red-breasted Merganser

Hooded Merganser

American Wigeon

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Green-winged Teal

Surf Scoter

Mallard

Lesser or Greater Scaup

Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck

Kildeer

Black-bellied Plover

Western Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

Marbled Godwit

Willet

Long-billed Curlew

Greater Yellowlegs

White-crowned Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

And last but not least the American Avocet in breeding plumage. (See those lovely red necks? They would be plain white in the winter.) I had walked all the way around from one side of the channel to the other to get a closer look at some avocets and then discovered two more right by my car in the parking lot which once again proves the first rule of birding: the best birds are always by the parking lot!

Gotta Move!

My road to good health actually started with exercise, not my diet. I had always exercised in one form or another starting with ballet when I was in my twenties. (Yes, I started when I was 18, too late to have a career. I only took up the violin because my mother wouldn't let me take ballet when I was younger. If anyone is keeping count of my revelations, this is number 3 at least.) I then moved on to Yoga as it was presented by Richard Hittleman. My husband and I did that program together although the Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans for Physical Fitness routines were his favorites. (As he got older, it was more of the former and less of the latter.)

I switched to the Time/Life series of routines in Getting Firm in the late 80s along with plain old running in place for 20 minutes. I added weights to the routines including a 17 lb. bar which made them difficult for me and so it was easy to find excuses not to do them. By the year 2000, I was down to only once a week when I decided it was time for another change. I was also getting fat and very stiff all over. Hours and hours of playing the violin leads to sore necks, and backs, stiff shoulders, and tendinitis in the hands, wrists, and elbows. In those days, the concept of musician as athlete had not been realized yet.

OK, I thought. Let's find something that is gentle, fun to do, and not so hard that I won't want to do it every day. If there's one thing that playing a musical instrument teaches you it is that a little practicing every day is much better than several hours only once a week. Since dance was my passion, I decided to go back to routines that dancers do to stay in shape—Pilates, Lotte Berk, The Bar Method, and Yoga. I went out and bought a bunch of DVDs and some new sexy exercise clothes and I was on my way.

I now own about 62 exercise DVDs, 18 VHS tapes, and a couple of CDs you listen to as you work out. You can even download some mp3 Yoga routines from the Internet. And that doesn't count the ones I have given away to my daughter because I wasn't using them any more. I didn't want to get bored and buying a new routine every now and then keeps up my interest. I pop a different one into the player every day and work out in the comfort of my own home. If I had to drive to a fitness club every day, I wouldn't do it. Here are some of my current favorites:

The Bar Method by Burr Leonard. Unfortunately, she has created only two DVDs.

Lotte Berk. The Bar Method is actually a West Coast version of Lotte Berk which is taught in New York.

Stott Pilates. Just about anything from Moira Stott Merrithew is good. The later routines tend to be better than the early ones. Pilates matwork is actually quite difficult as Pilates himself presented it. Moira adds some steps in between that makes getting to the final goal easier.

Yoga and Pilates by Gaiam. I especially like the videos by Seane Corn and Suzanne Deason. Suzanne has a series that always includes the words " for weight loss" in the title, but I think they are good routines for anyone.

And for more traditional calisthenics and aerobics, Karen Voight. Karen's routines are very dance-like and very original even though they are traditional moves—squats, lunges, etc.

The routines can last from 20 to 60 minutes and there are routines for early in the morning or late in the evening. If all you have left is 15 minutes before going to bed, there is something for that, too. I enjoy working out to music and having the video on the TV screen in front of me keeps me focused on good form and relieves me of having to keep count (bo-ring!). I alternate routines so that I get some stretching one day, aerobics the next, and isometrics or weight lifting the day after that. I try not to work the same muscle groups too hard two days in a row although most of the routines are well-rounded and get a little of everything. Whatever I feel like doing is what I do. Nobody pushes me to go further than I want to go. That's how I keep myself from getting injured.

A friend asked me how I could be sure I was "doing it right." Well I guess I'm not 100% sure. Most of the videos explain the proper form very carefully, though. But the main idea for me is to get moving!