Early in the morning of March 22, 2022 a F-1 tornado touched down at Possum Kingdom Lake. There was damage to homes along the Burma Roads and East Peninsula then it moved on to the north end of the lake. The tornado increased in strength as it caused major damage heading to Jacksboro and on to the northeast.
The next day the skies were gray and cloudy with the temperature dropping off significantly. As I looked out my windows overlooking Lakeview Cove, I observed a scene right out of a collection of John J. Audubon prints. Three fox squirrels were performing their acrobatics from one large cedar elm tree to another. At the same time the bird feeder I had placed on my porch was being emptied by four cardinals. Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice grabbed a single seed each to fly back to the trees to crack open and back to the feeder in a sortie of seed gathering. House finches and various sparrows took their turn on the feeder as well. Red-winged blackbirds then bullied their way to take over the feeder while ladder-backed and re-bellied woodpeckers dominated the suet block station I had placed a short distance from the seed feeder. Smaller birds would also visit the suet block when the woodpeckers fled away only to return. Smaller seeds knocked out of the feeder fell to the patio where a pair of dark-eyed juncos and a couple of wary white-winged doves pecked away. A Bewick’s wren looking for spiders and insects on the porch joined in on the patio for a few seeds to supplement its diet.
Looking down towards the end of the cove I observed a majestic great blue heron posing in the shallow water as if it was a statue, but in a split second it would come up with a small shad in its long beak. This behavior would be repeated as the shad were being chased to the end of the cove by four double-crested cormorants that looked like torpedoes in the water. A pair of mallard ducks paddled their way around the feeding frenzy without any concern.
High above in the gray sky were two turkey vultures apparently looking for injured shad missed by the other birds. A squabble of ring-billed gulls joined in the fray.
In the past I have seen many deer, raccoons, possums, and skunks in my yard; once even a bobcat by my mailbox. I hope not to observe any more beavers in the cove. The last one chewed down a Texas ash tree that fell on my outdoor grilling gazebo and totaled it out.
These are the days at PK! I wouldn’t trade any day here for one elsewhere.
