Membership Meeting
Thursday September 18, 2025 7:00 p.m.
Garden Center, Tyrrell Park, Beaumont
A Birding Trip to Cuba
Steve Mayes
Steve will talk about his birding trip to Cuba 2/27-3/1/2025. This was a short trip covering only a small area of the country between Havana and the Zapata peninsula in Matanzas Province, including the Cienaga de Zapata, a famous large natural wetland reserve on the southern coast of Cuba about 125 miles south of Havana, which is on the northern coast. Despite the limited area covered, 133 species were observed including a number of Cuban and West Indian endemics. These included such species as Cuban Trogon, Cuban Tody, Blue-headed Quail-Dove, Great Lizard-Cuckoo and the world's smallest bird — the Bee Hummingbird. Steve will also speak about travelling in Cuba and the special travel restrictions for Americans in Cuba.
We plan to have the doors open no later than 6:00 p.m., and have light refreshments available by about 6:15 p.m.
Saturday September 27, 2025
Field Trip to Smith Point Hawkwatch.
Note that again this month, our Field Trip will not be on the Saturday immediately following the Membership Meeting but one week later than that so as to be nearer the date when Broad-winged Hawk migration has peaked in recent years.
To reach the Smith Point Hawk- watch site from Winnie, take Highway 124 south towards High Island. After 12 miles, turn right on FM1985 and follow it about 14 1/2 miles until it meets FM562. Follow FM562 14 miles to Smith Point. Continue straight until almost reaching the bay, and turn left, bearing left again to the parking area next to the Hawkwatch Tower on the Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area. It takes at least 90 minutes from the Golden Triangle to reach the site, more if you stop to bird. This Field Trip is much more a come and go as you wish trip, and help on hawk identification is always available on the tower during Hawk Watch season!
Our leaders will be there from about 8:30 a.m. on September 27. Hopefully, this will be close to a peak in this year's Broad-winged Hawk migration, but there will always be some hawks. Accipiters, especially Sharp-shinned Hawks, tend to pass over Smith Point early in the morning, often concentrated in the 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. time period, while the Broad-winged Hawks tend to come later in the morning, rarely before 10:00 a.m. Any day from mid-September through mid or late October should produce a good number of migrating hawks.
Our leaders may lead a group into the nearby woods looking for migrants, but you may stay on the tower if you wish. Mosquitoes are not normally a problem on the tower. Availability of food and fuel is essentially non-existent in Smith Point, so bring your lunch!
The Smith Point Hawk Watch tower is staffed by Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in cooperation with Hawk Watch International from August 15 through November 30 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.