Our Osprey Garden
Greetings!
The Virginia Osprey Foundation wishes each and every one of you a prosperous and Happy New Year! As our Foundation grows, we hope to bring you educational events throughout the year outside of the Festival.
The Colonial Beach Community Foundation has invited the Virginia Osprey Foundation to speak at their monthly meet-up event. This will be held on February 15 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Dockside Realty located at 104 Taylor Street in Colonial Beach. Join us and learn about the Virginia Osprey Foundation and have a chance to meet our fantastic team!
Our first event of the year is a film screening titled; The Biggest Little Fish You’ve Never Seen. This is a documentary produced by McKeever Films. This film highlights Osprey in the lower Chesapeake Bay and how they are affected by the overharvesting of Menhaden, a nutrient rich fish that Chesapeake Osprey depend on to survive. The film will be shown at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church located on Washington Street in Colonial Beach, VA, on February 24 at 2:00 p.m. This event is free to the public and any donations are appreciated. There will be door prizes and light refreshments will be provided as well as an opportunity to purchase Festival merchandise. We hope to see you there!
There is much work being done to protect the Osprey of the lower Chesapeake. You can stay informed by visiting Press Release: CLA Files Petition for Rulemaking to Save Menhaden and Bay Ecosystem – Chesapeake Legal Alliance
Please visit our website to keep current with all of our activities and events! We have a new Calendar that lists not only our events but other birding and nature events in Virginia. We are excited to share this with you and hope you will find it useful! Calendar | The Virginia Osprey Foundation | Virginia Osprey Education & Advocacy
I am including a sneak peak of the view you will see with our osprey nest cam! Of course we have an empty nest at the moment but you will have a bird’s eye view.
Thank you all for your continued support!
Luis Savaadra lives in Merida, Venezuela. Luis has partnered with the Virginia Osprey Foundation to keep us updated on our ospreys that migrate to Venezuela. We appreciate Luis and his efforts. We hope you enjoy his video.
Osprey Festival News
Save the date! April 13, 2024
We are so excited about all of the great things that will be happening at our Festival!
We now have confirmation that the ever popular Vega the Turkey Vulture will be returning with her handler, Heather. Vega was a huge star at the show last year and I know her fans will be thrilled to know she will be making another appearance in Colonial Beach.
We have a new vendor joining us, the Arts Center of Montross, we welcome them to the Festival, please stop by and see the beautiful artwork by our local artists!
Coming soon! A local artist, Bob Smith, has been a loyal supporter of our festival and this year he is donating a beautiful painting! Raffle tickets will go on sale soon so stay tuned to the website for details. Tickets will remain on sale throughout the day of the festival and the winner will be drawn in the afternoon. Details will follow. You don’t want to miss out on this one. Thank you, Bob!
We have updated our Osprey Nest Tour Map and it is available for download below.
A tidbit for the day- Did you know? Osprey (Pandion haliaetus ) Pandion- a legendary king of Athens and haliaetus- Greek hals- salt or sea and Greek aetos-eagle. Certainly I believe they are a King of birds.
The Osprey is a conservation success story and we will celebrate them April 13.
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