Our Osprey Garden
Greetings and Happy New Year to each of you!
How time flies, just like our beloved ospreys! In less than 3 months they will return to Colonial Beach, I am already feeling the excitement and anticipation! You can sign up on osprey-watch.org now and choose a nest you would like to monitor for the new season.
All of the nests in Colonial Beach are already registered, if you have trouble finding a particular nest, just reach out to me and I can assist you. We want to avoid duplicating nests as this is a citizen science project and all data is downloaded by the Center for Conservation Biology and we don’t want to skew the data.
We have a new global friend, Luis Saavedra, he is a biology student at Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela. He participates each year in Hawkcount and is very interested in ospreys. Beginning in October and into November there were 36 osprey sightings reported. I have included pictures of Luis and a couple of the ospreys that he photographed! Could the osprey be one of ours?
He will be reporting on any ospreys he sees that appear to be migrating back to the US. Thank you Luis for this partnership and we appreciate and welcome you to follow along with us. I will be keeping him updated about our osprey news once they return! You can visit Hawkcount at HawkCount. I expect to hear from Fabio of Brazil this month and will be able to report in the February newsletter.
Check out the crossword puzzle in this issue! It is a PDF with a link so that you can print it out!
Once completed, you can send to me at ospreycbva@gmail.com or give to me in person, if it is correct you will get one of our “Virginia is for Osprey Lovers” stickers! All puzzles must be received by January 31, 2023. (Answers will appear in the February Osprey Flyer)
Festival News
Our festival is only three and a half months out. The committee has worked hard to bring you an exciting festival again this year, we will have returning programs and some new ones as well. Our tickets will be going on sale online soon so watch for that announcement. April is coming quick! Only four more months until we celebrate the return of our ospreys!
An addition to our line up, Karen Brace and her Awesome Possumz will be present for a meet and greet! We are excited to welcome her to our festival.
We will have the Scavenger Hunt beginning April 1 through April 30. Stay tuned for more details.
We want to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors:
Ø WaWa- Gold Sponsor
Ø Walmart-Gold Sponsor
Ø Eric Nelson- Silver Sponsor
Ø Point of View- Silver Sponsor
Ø Petite Taway- Silver Sponsor
Ø Dodson Companies-Silver Sponsor
We still have festival hats for sale at Colonial Buzz Espresso Bar and we have festival stickers!
As we approach the festival new merchandise will be available, stay tuned!
Remember 50% of festival profits go into an osprey/wildlife fund. Thank you for your support!
SAVE THE DATE APRIL 15, 2023
Tickets will be on sale soon! You will be able to buy them at various locations and online!
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Please sign up on our website to receive festival updates. If you have stories or an experience that you would like to share in the newsletter for next month, please send an email to: ospreycbva@gmail.com