Every April, Colonial Beach celebrates the return of the flying fishermen that have earned their place as the town’s official bird.

This year marked the Virginia Osprey Fest’s eighth iteration. And, for once, the weather— which can be fickle in April—blessed eventgoers with a sunny day, in stark contrast to the dreary, mud-soaked mess of the 2025 event.

The Town Hill space was awash with vendor and information booths, from books and knickknacks to exhibits from the various parks across the Northern Neck. Each section of Town Hill was given over to a specific category of occupant. Vendors and information about parks and other attractions, as well as groups like Community Heart & Soul, dominated the grounds in front of the stage, while the area behind it held the food trucks and recreational activities, such as kite flying.

This year also marked the first time a special award, the Garland Jenkins Award, was given out by the Osprey Foundation, with Todd Dalton from Dominion Energy as the recipient.

“He built many of the osprey platforms around the town, including the one where our nest cam is now,” Joanie Millward, executive director of the Osprey Foundation, explained. “I bumped into his wife later and learned quite a bit about him. He had done so much for us, so we named the award after him.

“We figured out what qualities we were looking for to determine who we would give the award to, and Todd has done so much for us. He’s put up twelve aluminum platforms, gotten trash out of the platforms, helped us with banding the ospreys. It was no contest on who to give it to.”

Earthquest showed off a number of unique birds of prey. The birds hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things at first, but the second presentation went much better. The program spanned from eagle owls and steppe eagles to California condors. They even made a case for why people should be a bit more thankful for the presence of turkey vultures, with the presentation painting an image that was less of a dirty scavenger and more akin to nature’s janitor and HAZMAT crew, cleaning up diseased remains so the rest of us can enjoy the benefits of a cleaner environment.

Those with tickets, meanwhile, got to take part in nest tours and attend speakers at the Fisheries Building, which broached a number of subjects, from dolphins on the Potomac and the issues surrounding the menhaden fish to how the flight paths of migrating ospreys change over time. All of the presenters did their best to not just educate but entertain while doing so.

This also marked the first Osprey Fest where the nesting cameras, which became operational in December of last year, could be used to peek in on the nests.