Dick Benoit started his hawk watch season Sat7/25/98 he sent the following
message about the day.
 

"     They were gathering the mowed grass around the tower today.  They
drove a Great Horned Owl  north past the tower about 10 am.
     Watched from 9 am to 3 pm the weather was partly cloudy, with a 10 mph
southerly wind.
     I had two early White-tailed kites about a half hour apart that seemed to
be moving in a westerly direction.  Also an immature Broad-winged Hawk moved
around the woods to the east of the tower, but did not move beyond the trees.
Eleven Turkey Vultures circled the area in the afternoon.
     Brown Pelicans movement was steady, totaling 116 for the day. Swallow
species counted 30, Magnificent Frigate-birds numbered 10 ( two men came to
the tower specifically looking for these minutes after the last one was seen),
Black Terns - 3, Wood Storks in a group of 12.
     Other comments: Mosquitoes - 0, Butterflies - 2 ( Cabbage?), and
Dragonflies-10. "
   Dick
Dick reports that he went back out there today (7/27/98) and there were no
migrating hawks.
Winnie Burkett
Coordinator
Smith Point Hawk Watch

Subject:      [TEXBIRDS] Smith Point Hawk Watch 8/1/98

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Winds 5 mph WSW, Temp. 78 to 90 F.
Times: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Birds Seen:
Turkey Vultures - 11
Black Vultures - 7
Northern Harrier ( adult female) - 1
Broad-winged Hawks (immatures) - 11
Brown Pelicans - 4
Wood Storks - 35
Magnificient Frigatebirds - 5
White Ibises - 20
Anhinga - 1
White-winged Doves - 25
Purple Martins - 25
Other Swallows - 0

Other:
Butterflies- Morning Cloak - 2
Dragonflies- Common Amberwing - 32
Mosquitoes - 0

- Dick Benoit

Subject:      [BIRDHAWK] Smith Point Hawk Watch, Monday, Aug. 3

Smith Point Hawk Watch, a tower located at Smith Point, Chambers County,
Texas, which is on the southeast side of Galveston Bay.
Weather, Partly cloudy, winds < 5 mph ESE, temp. 80 to 90 degrees F.
Times: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Birds seen:
Turkey Vultures - 3
Broad-winged Hawks - 16
White-tailed Kites - 3
Mississippi Kite - 1
Swallow-tailed Kites - 19 ( a flock of )
Brown Pelicans - 68
Wood Storks - 19
Magnificient Frigatebirds - 54
White Ibises - 289
White-faced Ibises - 12
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds - 6
Pileated Woodpecker - 1 ( landed on top of tower)
Purple Martins - 20

Other:
Butterflies- Morning Cloaks - 6
Dragonflies - 1000's

- Dick Benoit

Subject:      [TEXBIRDS] Smith Point Hawk Watch, Wed. Aug.  5

Located on the east shore of Galveston Bay, Chambers County, Tx.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, wind < 10 mph W. temp. 90 F
Times: 7:30 am to 2:00 pm

Birds seen:
Turkey Vultures - 4
Black Vultures - 4
Swallow-tailed Kites - 6 ( a kettle at 11:10 am )
Broad-winged Hawks - 27 ( immatures )
Red-shouldered Hawks - 2 ( adult and immature  )
Merlin - 1
White Ibises - 195
White-faced Ibises - 43
Magnificient Frigatebirds - 12
Wood  Storks- 20
Anhingas - 28
Eastern Kingbirds - 10
N. Orioles - 26
Barn Swallows - 4
Purple Martins - 60

Other:
Butterflies - Morning Cloak - 15
Dragonflies - 100's

The Swallow-tailed Kites seen on Monday, Aug. 3, were seen in a kettle at
12:03 pm.

- Dick Benoit

Date:         Fri, 14 Aug 1998 19:32:19 EDT

Results of my casual observations at Smith Point Hawk Watch tower today from
7:30 AM - 12:00 PM:

Weather: cloudy, rain, thunderstorms & gusty winds moving from SW to NE, temp
in low 80's. Not a good day for hawk watching!

Raptors:  only saw 1 imm. Mississippi Kite & 1 unident. raptor.

Other species: Saw total of 30 species from tower.  As others have reported
this is a great place to see Magnificent Frigatebirds (with scope you can see
them harrassing gulls around shrimp boats in Galveston Bay).  Lots of
migrating Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers (groups of 5 +/- every few minutes) and Barn
Swallows passing through.  Tower list includes:

Magnificent Frigatebird
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Forsters Tern
Black Tern
Neotropic Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
White Ibis
Brown Pelican
Willet
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Carolina Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
White Wing Dove
Barn Swallow
Purple Martin
Northern Bobwhite
Loggerhead Shrike
Starling
Downey Woodpecker
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Mississippi Kite

Hope the real hawk watchers have better luck starting tomorrow.

Bill Saulmon
North Houston