T r o p i c a l   T r a i l s

Mesquite trees with limbs bent heavy with their long bean pods hung over an old corral that had seen its better days. Old broken boards that once were part of this corral hang by one nail or just leaned against the post, warped, weather beaten and split. No herds held here now. The loading chute had dry-rotted and couldn't have held a calf let alone a half grown steer. This place was becoming part of the land again. No cowboys, cows or horses had worked this place since the 50's.

Somehow out in this wilderness of the upper Rio Grande Valley there is an old metal barrel cut in half that has water dripping in it from an old rusty galvanized pipe. The barrel has a small leak from a rust hole letting water drip out on the parched ground near that old cattle pen and corral. Here, where there seems to be an absence of life anywhere, lives an abundant variety of desert animals and birds all depending on this rusty half barrel for water. The nearest house is a half-mile away and I don't see a well or pump anywhere. Whatever the water source, the local wildlife is kept within walking distance of the barrel. The birds, havelinas (peccary) which is a small pig like animal, some snakes and lizards, drink by day but at night the coyotes and raccoons fight each other and other animals for their leisurely time at the trough. Deer stand at a distance and wait, snort, paw the ground challenging for their turn. The days are long and hot and a leisurely drink means life for the next 24 hours.

There is where I set up my photo blind. I didn't have to wait long for my first subject. A Scissor Tailed Flycatcher came to drink. So fast I couldn't focus. I thought that maybe the next time I'd have my camera focused on the spot where he would perch to dip and drink. I set up under a mesquite tree for shade but the heat by mid-morning was roasting or should I say dehydrating me. Not one subject all morning except that one flycatcher and I didn't get him. Green Jays and Cactus Wrens were fussing at me from the thickets. They knew I was there but I couldn't see them. That barrel was looking real good right then. I just wanted to bury my head in the water. So much for the photography that morning, the tropics won out. After lifting my head out of that cool water I just sat there for a while before taking down my blind. There would be another day. That's the excuse I always use when nothing is going according plan.

On the way out of that old ranch I passed an old watering hole I had not seen when coming in so early in the morning. On a post within 20 feet of the jeep was the Scissor Tail, just posing for me. Also some Whistling Ducks were sitting on the pond and two Turkey Vultures dinning on a dead hairy something along the brush row near the pond. I couldn't make out what was on the menu but I did take some good pictures of those bald, red headed buzzards standing on what ever that hairy thing was they were eating. . They were gulping down large chunks of something real ripe and could care less about me. On my next trip I used my car as a photo blind and was more successful.

The beautiful scissor tailed flycatcher is very acrobatic and uses its tail as a trick rudder. Many have been observed diving or leaping into the air for a fast insect and they rarely miss. This is truly what I would call a fast food meal. Grey with a tinge of pink blush on its sides and a long scissor-like tail makes this a unique bird, as are many of the birds in the valley area. This is a real birders paradise but don't forget the butterflies.

At the camp near this site we sat around in the evening trying to talk but there is a certain time of day that the locust (cicadas) just make it impossible to carry on any reasonable conversation. In the quietness of the next morning though, we were greeted with the calls and feather rustling of the Boat Tailed Grackles and blackbirds which was much more pleasing to the ears.

I'll never forget the first trip on the way down to the valley we kept seeing signs reading Tropical Trails. There were some palms planted here and there were beaches 10 miles off the mainland out on Padre Island, but my first impression was not as the signs suggested. It's hard to express my real feeling at that moment when I was dive-bombed by a crop duster leaving the smell and a film of pesticide all over my car and me. We were all thankful for our family that lived there and upon arriving were offered a shower and a car washing. My first thoughts were of the wildlife and how any could manage to live here at all. But getting off the beaten path and away from the cotton and maize fields gave me more of a feeling of being in the tropics.

Many more trips and many more rolls of film have come and gone and still the quietness of this Texas out-back has not lost its appeal. Sometimes a person just has to search in out-of-the-way places to find the things that are really important to them. Other times just a cool drink on a hot day means a lot. Jesus knew this when He asks the woman at the well for a drink. I often wondered if He ever got His drink. As a child I always hoped He got his own drink, at least, after the woman ran off. Strange what kids think about huh? It's important to try and answer these questions for children, however simple they might seem, so they can build a stronger foundation.

Burney Tompkins

    - Uncle Burney