Hambone v3.0

Monday Pelican Open Comments

Brown Pelican, 60 mph 

Imagine a line of Brown Pelicans flying just above the gorgeous breaking surf of the coast.

Perhaps you’ve watched, and heard, these large, long-billed birds fishing. They circle high, then dive headfirst, plunging under water to catch fish. But doesn’t that hurt?

Pelicans are some of the fastest birds in the world, and they can hit the water at speeds up to 60 mph (96.56 km/h).

Anyone who has taken a belly flop off a diving board knows the powerful force of hitting the water.

Several adaptations protect Brown Pelicans as they dive, sometimes from as high as 60 feet. Air sacs beneath the skin on their breasts act like cushions. Also, while diving, a pelican rotates its body ever so slightly to the left. This rotation helps avoid injury to the esophagus and trachea, which are located on the right side of the bird’s neck.

Pelicans have also learned that a steep dive angle, between 60 and 90 degrees, reduces aiming errors caused by water surface refraction. We know that pelicans “learn” this behavior because adults are better marksmen than young birds. Upon impact, the Brown Pelican opens its bill and expands its pouch, trapping small fish inside. Then the bird pops to the surface, spills out the water, and gulps down dinner.

To see a video of pelicans diving, begin at our website, BirdNote.com.

– Frances Wood

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Shannon

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59 responses to “Monday Pelican Open Comments”

  1. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Did you know that the brown pelican has the same number of cervical vertebras as you do? Look at the curves in its neck and look at yours; its a real head scratcher ain’t it?

  2. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Yesterday, mid day, I weed and feeded the yard and last night/early this morning, we got a nice, much needed rain. Score one point for Bonecrusher’s timing.

  3. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    I was hurting last night after my drive home. I took a relevant relaxant and slept like a rick rock. The back is still an issue but better than last night, so I’m beginning my morning routine. Good morning to everyone.

    Btw, giraffes also have seven neck bones, iirc .

    ***

    It is now fixed – I had to go into the Dashboard to edit, for some reason. The first post was done on my phone, shortly after I had somewhat woken up. I went back and edited (I thought) on my phone, but the fixes didn’t take. Weird. I hate working on my phone.

    1. Texpat Avatar
      Texpat

      WHAT ?

      I took a relevant and slept like a rick

      1. wagonburner Avatar
        wagonburner

        Still under the influence of whatever it was.

  4. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    I love Pelicans, one of my favorite birds. Well we got a little rain this morning starting about 5:10 AM with a pretty good light show. Only a half inch or so but we’re hoping for more later in the day.
    Mornin’ Gang

  5. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    Israel Resumes War in Gaza With Plan To Conquer Strip

    /snip

    The government has yet to make definitive plans for postwar Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will retain security control over Gaza indefinitely but will seek to hand over civil administration to local Palestinians not affiliated with terrorist groups. He has expressed hope that Hamas’s defeat will create new possibilities, including potential support for rebuilding and governance of the strip from so-far uncooperative Arab states.

    Kobi Michael, a former senior Israeli government and military intelligence official, said Israel would likely end up recreating in Gaza a version of the governance structure of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy and Israel has freedom of action to deal with security threats.

    IMHO, they are still trying to make peace with the rattle snake. Purge Gaza of all the inhabitants, either by death or migration, clean it out and rebuild it as a part of sovereign Israeli territory. When the animals in the West Bank start their garbage again, treat them the same way as the Gazans. Purge all the non-Jewish inhabitants on the Israeli side of the Jordan river.

  6. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    I found this strange; Former US Attorney Jessica Aber, 43, found dead at Virginia residence: police
    Only 43 and she died of natural causes?

    But I did also see this;

    While authorities did not release Aber’s cause of death, a family friend told Fox News Digital on Sunday that police believe her death “was the result of a longstanding medical issue.”

    1. Texpat Avatar
      Texpat

      She was head of a DOJ district with 300 attorneys and staff. They had some high profile corruption cases one of which involved several Russian organized crime types. If they aren’t sure she died of natural causes, I’d take a look at them and their friends first.

  7. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    Speaking of neck bones, I’ve known Dennis Prager has been recuperating from a back injury and has been off the air for several months now. What I did not know is when he fell off of a ladder in his home, he damaged 2 vertebrae in the cervical region of the neck and had a partial spinal cord separation. I believe it was the C-2 and C-5 vertebrae. He was initially paralyzed from the neck down, but has been making progress. Dennis’s son said a couple of weeks ago he is now talking, eating and drinking which he could not do before. No 76 year old man needs to be climbing around on ladders, for crying out loud.

    1. Super Dave Avatar
      Super Dave

      What about 71 YO’s, asking for a friend? 😉

    2. wagonburner Avatar
      wagonburner

      Reminds me of the last words my grandfather said to me.

      “Stop shaking the ladder, you little s***!”

  8. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    The Terrorists Among Us

    Trump, anti-Musk terrorism. It shouldn’t be tolerated.

    Whether it’s taking pot shots at the president, violently demonstrating in support of murderous terrorists, “swatting” people they don’t like, or destroying cars made by a person they now despise, our country once again finds extremists threatening us and our liberty.

    And, no surprise, it’s nearly all from the far left side of the political spectrum, organized by supposedly “nonviolent” groups, quietly supported by the Democratic Party, and excused by the ultra-biased Big Media.

    /snip

    Musk himself believes these are well-planned acts of terror. “An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla ‘protests’: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America,” Musk wrote on X.

    A group called “DOGEQUEST” is even doxxing “private home addresses and contact info of DOGE employees, their families, some private Tesla owners and Tesla stores.”

    Pam Bondi and the DOJ apparatus needs to go after these groups, and their funders, with all dispatch. RICO them out of existence, seize all the assets, and extradite Soros and his spawn to Hungary.

  9. Bonecrusher Avatar
    Bonecrusher

    I have on in the spit bucket.

    1. Texpat Avatar
      Texpat

      I approved it earlier, but it didn’t stick so I had to do it a second time.

      1. Bonecrusher Avatar
        Bonecrusher

        Thank you kind sir. I have noticed that there is some ” nervousness ” with some of my posts.

        1. squawkbox Avatar
          squawkbox

          Akismet

  10. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    RIP Mia Love

    Former US Rep. Mia Love, the first Republican black woman elected to Congress, has died, her family announced Sunday night.

    She was 49.

    “With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today,” Love’s family wrote in a statement on X.

    The former congresswoman had been battling brain cancer and recently underwent immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center before her death.

  11. Dr phil Good-E=1984 Avatar
    Dr phil Good-E=1984

    Surprise surprise surprise.

    the party of destruction, death, lies, fraud, communist kangarooed penguins, communist candidates and media propagandists liars lied again.

    when I first saw the photo I knew it was staged deep state shinola.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/gps-data-reveals-bernie-sanders-aoc-rally-was-artificial-full-antifablm-pro-hamas-pro

    1. Super Dave Avatar
      Super Dave

      Shazaam!!!!!!!!!!!! I’d have never believed that they could stop this low. 😉

      1. Tedtam Avatar
        Tedtam

        Political limbo is their favorite game.

  12. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Hubby is helping me out together a shade frame for my garden. Most of what I want to grow are not hot summer plants. Once we finish putting together the frame, I’ll cover it with a 40 or 50% shade cloth. One of the gardening guys that I used to watch had several videos of him relaxing in his large shaded garden, surrounded by dozens of laden tomato plants. IIRC, he was in S. Carolina, so I’m sure a 50% shade cloth would work here as well. Tomatoes are one of the plants that survived my gardening reduction strategy. And lettuce. Basically, I’ll be growing a salad garden.

    We are using my neighbor’s old trampoline frame and attaching joints of PVC pipe, clamped and zip tied into place. The shade cloth will be zipped into place. Now we’ll see if we are making it strong enough to survive our storms.

    Hubby is out getting more clamps and stuff.

    1. wagonburner Avatar
      wagonburner

      I’ve never been able to get tomatoes to produce anything after about May.

      Trying vertical squash & cucumbers this year along with the usual herbs & peppers.

      1. Tedtam Avatar
        Tedtam

        I’m really running late with the gardening this year, mainly due to health issues. I’m hoping the shade garden works. Seriously, the dude was sitting under his carport type shade, sipping a beer in the relatively cool space, surrounded by red fruit all around him.

        He explains it this way: Think about the forerunner of today’s tomato plants – they were woodland vines that would creep along the ground, climbing the occasional tree. They were used to dappled light, not full sun.

        So, we’ll see if this year’s experiement works. If not, everything in the backyard is temporary and can be (re)moved.

  13. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Oh, and I can safely announce the opening of mosquito season…just sayin’.

  14. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Dr phil. 11:11am
    Pretty amazing what they can extrapolate from that data.

    1. Texpat Avatar
      Texpat

      This is the same technology the DOJ and FBI used on January 6th, 2021 around the Capitol Grounds. It’s how they IDed most of the people they persecuted. They also used security camera footage for corroboration, but the cellphone data was the main tool.

      The Trump campaign used it extensively at all their rallies in 2019 and 2020. They also required a cellphone number to get into rallies. It’s how they built the massive MAGA voter database.

  15. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    While I’m waiting for Hubby to come back, I’ll take a look at the C&C. BTW – I just heard the radio’s weather forecast, and we’re going to hit 87 either today or tomorrow. I guess we’re getting the shade up in time.

    Today’s C&C roundup:

    Good morning, C&C, it’s Monday! Your roundup includes: Bernie bros are having a moment as Democrats trot out fossilized socialist to shore up the base; progressive message pivot alert; GOP Congress eyes ways to reign in rebellious judges; SADS story sabotages record-setting Republican congresswoman; and the North Carolina Supreme Court delivers a fantastic jab ruling and hints at a much bigger problem for Democrats.

  16. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    First up, the re-imagination of Bernie Sanders. He’s like a political Gumby, bending and twisting into weird positions in order to stay relevant:

    They called Trump’s positions “radical.” Now, the Democrats’ most radical senator is busily adopting Trump’s positions. Yesterday, The Hill ran the story under the headline, “Sanders recognizes Trump’s efforts on border, fentanyl: ‘Nobody thinks illegal immigration is appropriate’.”

    Of course, “billionaires” are evil, unless they of the Soros ilk. I notice that Sanders, AOC, et al, are careful to attack “B”illionaires, and not “M”illionaires. Using the M word would include themselves, and that can’t be allowed.

    Oh, Bernie waves his wrinkly hands around and cites “the billionaire class” and “corporate elites,” and occasionally sprinkles a few Jeff Bezos into the fruit salad. But he carefully and meticulously avoids mentioning any left-leaning oligarchs like, cough, George Soros, or any other Democrat donor or progressive tycoon. It’s working. It’s the only message that seems to be attracting much interest on the left, and media is grabbing the geriatric cartoon character more desperately than a drowning border-crosser clutching at a National Guard life buoy.

    Following prose indicates that people are afraid Trump will trample on all of those “safety net” and “non-discretionary” spending items. Fear is the fodder for the political left.

    I wonder – do the folks on the left ever get tired of being angry, dissatisfied, or being lied to?

    And why weren’t they angry when Biden was in office and the economy started straining at the seams back then?

  17. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Over at Ace, Buck Throckmorton has extensive coverage of the fact that more people are leaving Austin than moving there – ending a 20 year trend.
    Proof positive that the Left has killed the golden goose.

    1. Texpat Avatar
      Texpat

      I read the whole thing. Austin is terrible these days. The traffic alone is enough to drive anyone out. I’m worried all the lefties are moving out into the Hill Country and will poison local politics. When all the Hollywood crowd started invading SXSW I knew it would be a short time before they killed what started as a nice musical confab. It’s dead now and the old Austin I lived in many years ago will never be back. I lived there when you could walk down The Drag and see 12 you knew and there were only about 240,000 people there.

  18. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    The financial boss of Hamas in Gaza was supposedly being treated in a hospital there. It turns out he had set up his operations in a room of the hospital thinking Israel wouldn’t come after him there. Oops !

    Here is a Gaza/Hamas TV broadcast set up in front of the hospital and we get a live shot of the very smart guided missile blowing up a relatively small area of the very large medical complex.

    Here is a satellite view of the hospital and aftermath video of the attack.

    1. Tedtam Avatar
      Tedtam

      FAFO

      1. Super Dave Avatar
        Super Dave

        Amen to that! BTW: I do love a story with a happy ending. 😉

    2. Bonecrusher Avatar
      Bonecrusher

      Be sure that your sins will find you. . . .

  19. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    C&C, continued:

    While Bernie’s rhetoric is, as Mr. C. says, “evolving” towards some of Trump’s stands such as clamping down on illegal immigration and fentanyl, he still doesn’t want to deport illegals. Who’s gonna cut your grass? Clean your house? Gut chickens in the processing plants? For less than an American would settle for in pay?

    Racist much? And when did he decide that using the “illegal” word was okay, instead of the feel-good euphemisms that have been forced on us for years?

    Nobody at ABC challenged Bernie’s false dichotomy. Nobody has argued that, if the illegals are deported, the only option is to employ billionaires in meatpacking plants. But logic, it seems, is not required for this fearful moment in progressive politics. Nor did Bernie offer a competing plan to stop inappropriate illegal immigration.

    Here’s what I think. Triangulating Bernie and his Sazerac-mixing sidekick AOC are firewalls. Their job is to plug the Democrat’s dike and stop the base from bleeding out while the party tries to figure out some kind of message that will work. I’d wager my next birthday that they will soon be gone like the wind when progressives come up with anything better.

  20. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Next: crazy judges. BTW – I heard Clay & Buck earlier discussing the issue, and they think these judges know that their TRO’s, etc., will be tossed, but they are hoping that by looking tough against Trump they are increasing their probabilities of being sent up the judicial food chain, possibly even a SCOTUS chair at some point. Republicans are trying to come up with methods for reining in the crazy:

    …According to unnamed sources, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is likely to bring a short bill to the floor for a vote over the next few weeks. Titled the “No Rogue Judges Act,” the bill would prevent federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions with effects far beyond the parties who brought the lawsuits. In other words, it would stop injunctions from being transformed into vast class actions.

    There are pros and cons. During the pandemic, we enjoyed several rulings from the Fifth and Sixth circuits that broadly enjoined various kinds of Biden mandates. If Darrel Issa’s bill becomes law, conservatives would also lose that power. On the other hand, conservative judges are less likely to issue nationwide injunctions, so on balance it would prune Democrats’ options more so than conservatives.

    Since the Dems rely on liberal courts more than the R’s, in may result in a more favorable overall environment for conservatism.

    …The fight is only starting. Congress holds power to define court jurisdictions and set rules like Issa’s bills limits on injunctions. There is a lot they could do, since only the Supreme Court is explicitly defined in the Constitution’s third Article.

    “The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

    Congress controls all of the non-SCOTUS federal courts. They can prune, remove, or create new courts. This could be interesting.

  21. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Regarding the Mia Love death, I had the same thought as Mr. C:

    Former Representative Mia Love (R-Ut.), 49, died on Sunday after a three-year battle with aggressive brain cancer. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma in March, 2022, and given ten months to live. Defying doctors, Mia heroically held out until yesterday, having opted for clinical trials and immunotherapy. Then she became the first black Republican Congresswoman to die from a likely vaccine injury.

    Mia was fully vaxxed and promoted the mandates and vaxxine passports.

    RIP, lady. And comfort for your family.

    By the way, now that the signal has been buried in the noise, the embargo on the words “died suddenly” has apparently been lifted from news articles. You can resume searching for the phrase if you like, but the results are depressingly predictable. The slow-motion jab disaster continues apace.

  22. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Spotted over yonder; Jungle Pam Hardy today.

    Congratulations to “Jungle Pam” Hardy on her induction into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. She was every boys favourite back up girl in the early ’70s, an integral part of “Jungle Jim” Liberman’s funny car racing team.

    1. Bonecrusher Avatar
      Bonecrusher

      She had a ‘distinctive’ profile.

    2. GJT Avatar
      GJT

      Ahh the 70’s.

  23. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Speaking of jab injuries:

    WRAL-News ran a terrific story Friday headlined, “NC Supreme Court ruling opens path for parents to sue schools, health clinics over Covid-19 vaccines.” …

    Of course, the Dem justices were still protecting the jab juice. The case involves 14 year old Tanner Smith, who originally tried to refuse the jab, but was eventually forcibly jabbed against his wishes. The Smith family then sued the WLR clinic and the school district. Because of the PREP Act, the appellate court threw out the case, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled that his rights under the state’s constitution were a valid basis for moving forward. His case continues forward. Mr. C. thinks that the defendants would be wise to settle. (Mr. C. reminds us that he is also suing the federal government over the PREP Act. He is our warrior; we need more like him.)

    This North Carolina decision is promising but limited. Obviously, having been forcibly injected, and having state constitutional protections, Tanner is in a small class of victims. So I might not have reported the story, but for the initial background paragraph in the Supreme Court’s opinion. Read this and be encouraged: [insert image of text]

    In other words, five of seven North Carolina Supreme Court judges —the top jurists in the state— agreed that the pandemic featured “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” We’ve come a long way. That is a legal verdict, not some blog post. This decision is permanently recorded in the state’s records and listed in its laws.

    And of course the divide was partisan – how could the Dems admit they were part of the problem?

    They will go down with the political ship before they admit they had any role in it.

  24. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Mr. C. ends his column with a discussion about the hows and whys of why the Democrats are losing so badly in the court of public opinion. Mr. C. gives some good info on the latest polling, worth reading, but it boils down to a lotta people finally getting fed up combined with the Dem elites losing touch with real people and their very real problems.

    Pass the popcorn.

  25. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    The peace loving, tolerant party strikes again:

    Multiple bombs found inside Tesla showroom in Texas as threats against Elon Musk continue

    Authorities rushed to the scene and located multiple ‘suspicious devices’ at the Tesla dealership. The Austin Police Department Bomb Squad were also called to help.

    The incendiary devices – which are designed to cause large-scale, explosive violence – were taken into police custody without incident, the department said. 

    LARGE SCALE – designed to kill or maim as many people as possible.

    Go get ’em, Kash.

    1. Bonecrusher Avatar
      Bonecrusher

      This is straight up terrorism and the perps should face the death penalty.

    2. Bonecrusher Avatar
      Bonecrusher

      Watch these lefty rectii claim unfair prosecution for the crimes they committed, then contrast that with the J6 paraders.

  26. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    Shade dome about 90% completed. I need to order a second shade cloth, but already I can tell a difference. This is a 50% shade cloth. There seems to be plenty of light underneath, but I’m not a plant, either. It’s a lot cooler underneath, more than I expected. Hubby commented on it, too.

    The cloth is being held temporarily by some small zip ties for now. When we get the second shade cloth we’ll probably put stronger ties in place.

  27. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    Spotted over yonder; GJT, here ya’ go. 😉

    1. wagonburner Avatar
      wagonburner

      Points from a distributor?

      1. Shannon Avatar
        Shannon

        It better be.

      2. Super Dave Avatar
        Super Dave

        Certainly, I’ve adjusted hundreds of them over the years. The dual points are real tricky. 😉

  28. Tedtam Avatar
    Tedtam

    RE: my garden

    I already have some bean plants breaking ground under the new shade dome. The asparagus beans are actually a plant from Africa, so I told Hubby that I’m going to put another tub of them outside of the shade and see what, if any, differences I get in production, size, and heat/bug resistance.

    Science!

    1. Bonecrusher Avatar
      Bonecrusher

      Lookit Miss Smartypants.

    2. bsue54 Avatar
      bsue54

      I am not sure I’d ever gotten a good look at the support structure for your shade…. that’s really cool – no pun intended

  29. Adee Avatar
    Adee

    I had always wondered how those birds escaped breaking their necks with dives like that. Mother Nature takes care of such things apparently.

  30. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    Pelicans.
    In flight, the B-52 bombers of the bird world.
    Then, alluva sudden, streaking kamikaze divers.
    I love them.

  31. Super Dave Avatar
    Super Dave

    SO! The Cartels are now smuggling illegal’s out of the country!?!?! WTF?!?! It seems that some of them are afraid of getting caught and being sent to that Super Max Prison in EL Salvador. DAYAAM!!!
    And no, I’m not tired of winning.

    1. Adee Avatar
      Adee

      Will wonders never cease.

  32. Texpat Avatar
    Texpat

    What in the hell is going on in this world ? I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous and incompetent in my life.

    A United Airlines 787 flying from Los Angeles to China had to turn around this weekend after it was discovered one of the pilots had taken off without their passport, the airline told CNN in a statement.

    Flight 198 departed LAX at 2 p.m. Saturday with 257 passengers and 13 crew onboard and headed northwest over the Pacific Ocean, bound for Shanghai.

    Two hours later, the plane turned around and headed for San Francisco, where it landed around 5 p.m., according to the website FlightAware.

    “The pilot did not have their passport onboard,” United said in a statement.

    “We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.”

    The new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours behind schedule.

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