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In March, before everything turned green around here, I hiked to the nearest cove to take some photos of bald eagles, which are fairly common around Truman Lake. The first photo is a juvenile (or subadult) bald eagle. I would guess this eagle is two to three years old. How can I tell? Because the eagle is starting to get white spots on its chest and head. In their first year, bald eagles are almost completely dark, with very little white specks. Gradually, they start showing more and more white spots. It isn't until the end of their FIFTH year that they finally display the classic "bald eagle look," with a completely white head and dark body. The second and third photos show an almost mature bald eagle that landed next to the water to get a drink. It's probably in its fifth year... notice it still has some dark feathers on its head and some white feathers on its body. By next year, this eagle will have a completely white head and dark body. The fourth photo is a mature (more than five years old) eagle in its nest, probably already with eggs that were getting ready to hatch at the time (March)—in Missouri, bald eagles often hatch out in April. This eagle was watching me carefully, making sure I kept my distance.     Photo credit: Bald eagles - Stan C. Smith
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A few days ago, Trish and I were driving home on one of the roads near our property when I spotted a snake crossing in front of us. It was stretched out in the center of our lane, and I managed to drive directly over it without touching it with the tires. Just before passing over it, I recognized the yellow dots over its black background color. Excited, I shouted, "That's a speckled kingsnake!" I slammed on the brakes, pulled over, and jumped out. By this time, the snake was in the grass beside the road, and I was able to get some photos with my phone. Why was I so excited? The speckled kingsnake is one of my favorite snake species, and I haven't seen one in the wild for a decade or more. They are beautiful snakes, with exactly one yellow dot on each shiny black scale. Although these snakes act rather feisty when you first approach them, if you pick them up, they quickly calm down and rarely bite. Kingsnakes are NOT venomous. Kingsnakes are constrictors, meaning they grab their prey, wrap around it, and squeeze. This does not crush the prey. Instead, it simply constrict's the prey animal's chest so that it cannot breathe, and the animal suffocates. Then the snake will swallow the prey animal whole. If you look closely, notice this kingsnake seems to be missing its right eye, whereas its left eye is fine. This type of injury is surprisingly common in snakes that eat rodents. Mice and rats are tough critters, and they tend to fight back, often getting in a bite or two before being overwhelmed and suffocated by the snake. Interestingly, kingsnakes, including the speckled kingsnake, regularly prey on other snakes. This includes venomous snakes, and they seem particularly fond of copperheads. This appetite for rodents and venomous snakes makes the kingsnake a friend to many farmers and other rural folks. Personally, I think they're awesome!   In the 1978 movie, Superman: The Movie, Superman appears to fly around the earth so fast that the earth stops spinning, then it starts spinning in reverse, thus turning back time so he could save Lois Lane. Well… true Superman fans will say, “Hey! What really happened was that particular Superman—the Silver Age Superman from the comic books—could travel back in time under his own power, and the movie showed the earth reversing its rotation simply to show that time was backing up. But I digress. Back to the question: What would happen if the world really did stop turning? First of all, this is unlikely to happen abruptly. Why? Because of the immense momentum involved in Earth’s rotation. Scientists estimate this planet has a mass of 5,974,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms (otherwise known as six ronnagrams). At the equator, the surface is spinning at 1,037 miles per hour (1,670 km per hour). The amount of force it would take to suddenly stop this spin is almost incomprehensible. And, to be honest, the entire planet would probably break apart in the process. But, for the sake of curiosity, let’s say that somehow Earth suddenly stopped spinning without the planet self-destructing (maybe because of magic? I don’t know… let’s just run with it). If that happened, the result is… death and destruction. Here are a few of the many reasons. First, the earth’s surface is spinning at 1,037 miles per hour (although somewhat slower as you get farther from the equator). If the spin somehow abruptly stopped, everything on the earth, including people, would continue flying east at hundreds of miles per hour, slamming into trees, or each other, or whatever. If you jump out of a car going 60 mph, you probably won’t survive. Now imagine jumping from a car going a thousand miles per hour. Only at the north or south pole (where there is almost no eastward motion) would you survive. But not for long… We can assume the water of the oceans would be thrown eastward with just as much speed, resulting in massive tsunamis. We can also assume the atmosphere will continue eastward, producing winds faster than the shockwave of a nuclear explosion. Winds this fast would destroy everything, leaving the surface as smooth as a billiard ball. Okay… for fun, let’s say that everything stops when the earth stops, including people, water, and air, and we are all still alive (more magic). But, with the earth no longer spinning, half of the planet would constantly face the sun and become really hot. The other half would be in constant darkness and would freeze. The only moderate area would be a narrow strip around the border between the light and dark side. Unfortunately, that won’t be safe either… The iron core of the earth would stop spinning also, which means the planet would lose its protective magnetic field. Radiation then would kill whatever is left. I just thought you might want something to think about during those nights when you can't sleep. You're welcome.  Image Credit: Destroyed Earth - Midjourney 6.1 On a recent hike to the nearest cove of the lake, I photographed a pair of white pelicans swimming about and hunting for fish. White pelicans don't breed in Missouri, but they pass through in the spring on their way to their breeding grounds in the northern US and Canada, and again in the fall as they move to their wintering grounds in the southern US and Mexico. They often take a resting break from their migration, and we sometimes see hundreds of them at a time. White pelicans are one of the largest birds seen in Missouri, weighing up to twenty pounds. Astoundingly, their wings stretch nine feet from wingtip to wingtip. In the spring, as breeding time approaches, adults grow a vertical flat plate on the top of their bill (look closely at the two birds in the first photo, and the second photo shows the plate more clearly). They use these plates for courtship and in conflicts to establish their territories. Interestingly, after the eggs are laid, the adults lose these plates. So, the pelicans we see migrating south in the fall do not have these plates. A very strange bird is the pelican. His beak can hold more than his belly can. He can hold in his beak Enough food for a week. And I'm damned if I know how the hell he can.   Photo credit: White pelicans - Stan C. Smith |
Stan's Cogitations
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May 2025
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