This Week in Birding

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Get Ploverized with this roundup of Piping Plover news

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Get Ploverized with this roundup of Piping Plover news

They're back!

Bob Dolgan
Apr 30, 2021
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Get Ploverized with this roundup of Piping Plover news

www.twibchicago.com
Monty on a cold, gray Wednesday.

Migration journeys of 1,000-plus miles are never to be taken for granted. So the news that Piping Plover duo “Monty” and “Rose” are back brought delight across the city this week. Here’s a roundup of social media posts and news coverage, with a few of my comments, and a reminder to be cautious around the birds if you do visit the beach. Most gratifying of all was seeing the plovers using their new habitat addition when I visited on Wednesday.

First, some beautiful portraits of the Charadrius melodus pair from Ashlee Rezin Garcia of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Twitter avatar for @Ashlee_Rezin
Ashlee Rezin Garcia @Ashlee_Rezin
I got to spend some time this morning with Monty and Rose, the pair of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers that have mated at Montrose Beach for the past two years.
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6:38 PM ∙ Apr 28, 2021
44Likes5Retweets

We may have done the impossible…earn New York City’s respect:

Twitter avatar for @NycPlover
NYC Plover Project @NycPlover
It’s so inspiring how the City of Chicago, @ChicagoParks & others come together to cheer on and support @MontyPlover & @RosePlover - the First Couple of the 🌬 city! You guys rock! https://t.co/lRm1D21Md6
Twitter avatar for @ChicagoParks
Chicago ParkDistrict @ChicagoParks
👀One-half of the federally endangered Great Lakes #PipingPlover duo, Monty and Rose, returns for the 3rd consecutive year. Rose, the female piping plover, has been spotted back on the newly expanded Montrose Beach area. 🙌 Read more at https://t.co/Nztf0GcNIN https://t.co/LYgtOI5A74
8:22 PM ∙ Apr 27, 2021
13Likes3Retweets

My first time being subtweeted by the Park District (honors and privileges!):

Twitter avatar for @ChicagoParks
Chicago ParkDistrict @ChicagoParks
👀One-half of the federally endangered Great Lakes #PipingPlover duo, Monty and Rose, returns for the 3rd consecutive year. Rose, the female piping plover, has been spotted back on the newly expanded Montrose Beach area. 🙌 Read more at bit.ly/PipingPlover-R…
Twitter avatar for @bobdolgan
Bob Dolgan @bobdolgan
Confirmation this is Rose, back from Florida for a 3rd year in Chicago👇 https://t.co/LTFXhhSzNr
2:45 PM ∙ Apr 26, 2021
27Likes1Retweet

Piping Plover fandom crosses international boundaries:

Twitter avatar for @ontarioplovers
Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program @ontarioplovers
It's pretty amazing that Chicago's famous plovers, Monty and Rose, arrived back at the beach within a day of each other! They didn't migrate together-- they've been overwintering in different States.
Twitter avatar for @ChicagoParks
Chicago ParkDistrict @ChicagoParks
It's official! Monty, the other half of the Great Lakes Piping Plover duo, is back in Chicago. https://t.co/Om6e2bcHK0
7:21 PM ∙ Apr 27, 2021
49Likes8Retweets

People just love these birds:

Twitter avatar for @jennifergardy
Jennifer Gardy @jennifergardy
@blprnt Chicago's famous plover power couple have returned for the third straight year and you should bring the fam to come see them!
blockclubchicago.orgFamed Piping Plovers Monty And Rose Reunite At Montrose Beach For Third Straight SummerRose spent the winter in Anclote Key, Florida. Monty was spotted in Texas. But the endangered birds reunited in Chicago. “It’s very exciting,” one local birder said.
5:12 PM ∙ Apr 27, 2021

Agreed, 1,000 percent this:

Twitter avatar for @ctoner
Casey Toner @ctoner
Monty and Rose at the beach > Mamby on the Beach
Twitter avatar for @BlockClubCHI
Block Club Chicago @BlockClubCHI
After wintering in Texas and Florida, endangered piping plovers Monty and Rose have reunited at Montrose Beach. 😍 https://t.co/FEYAtuxV46 https://t.co/sgam5TRExX
8:45 PM ∙ Apr 27, 2021
8Likes2Retweets

Local media outlets got in on the act, too. The Chicago Tribune’s Morgan Greene has been on this story from the very beginning, just a couple of weeks after the plovers landed in Chicago. She spoke extensively with Dr. Francesca Cuthbert of the University of Minnesota and the Great Lakes Piping Plover Research Team and local plover fans Patricia O’Donnell and Mark Kolasa, who first saw Rose on Sunday. Link to story.

WTTW’s Patty Wetli has chronicled the plovers and the need for a habitat addition all winter long. Site Steward Leslie Borns spoke for many by adding how nerve-wracking it was waiting for Monty to arrive after Rose did. Link to story.

Block Club Chicago’s Joe Ward has covered the plovers consistently, too, as part of his Uptown-Edgewater-Rogers Park beat. Link to story.

ABC 7’s John Garcia visited Montrose Beach just as Monty returned on Monday. This may mark the coinage of a new term for the duo, “Chicago’s first fowl couple.” Link to story.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Zinya Salfiti included comments from Louise Clemency of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chicago office. Link to story.

There were also mentions on CBS 2, WGN TV, Chicago Public Radio and others.

Wednesday was a cold, blustery day, and yet there was a steady stream of onlookers, photographers and well-wishers at the beach. It’s great to see so much interest, which undoubtedly is an overall positive. The birds also need some space, though. It’s easy to forget they are critically endangered (even as Monty flew right up to me as if to say hello). Wildlife officials decided to close off the entirety of the dunes to the public for now as the plovers prepare for nesting. If you do go, remember to abide by the American Birding Association’s Code of Birding Ethics:

(b) Avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger. Be particularly cautious around active nests and nesting colonies, roosts, display sites, and feeding sites…Always exercise caution and restraint when photographing, recording, or otherwise approaching birds.


Celebrate Piping Plovers with a free sticker!

Now for some more fun stuff. I want to thank my frequent collaborator Bill Fogarty of Black Coffee Pictures for coming up with the design for this sticker to celebrate plovers. Bill came to the premiere of “Monty and Rose” at Music Box Theatre in November 2019 and, like so many, became smitten with the birds and was intrigued by their story. He designed the label for Piping Plover Pale Ale when it was released last year by Imperial Oak Brewing. He’s also going to be developing motion graphics for “Monty and Rose II,” which is coming this fall. Thank you, Bill, and I’ll see you for a backyard cold one soon.

Free Sticker

Click below to become a subscriber today, and join a community where telling stories of birds and making films like “Monty and Rose” and “Dodger” is possible.

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Get Ploverized with this roundup of Piping Plover news

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