Introducing Dodger, a piping plover attempting to spend the winter in Chicago

Migration is one of the great mysteries of ornithology. Just what is it that leads birds to fly thousands of miles each year? How do they know where to go? When to leave? When to return?

Before Dodger, every recorded Piping Plover that stopped in Illinois in the fall, also left Illinois in the fall. But in 2018, Dodger was passing through Chicago when it decided to stop at Montrose Beach. And stay. And stay.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this film possible: Mitchell Wenkus (video/editing); Staś Gunkel (original music); Geoff Williamson of Third Coast Birding; as well as those contributing images including Jeff Bilsky, Jamie Burning, David Gunkel, Steve Huggins, Frank Murphy and Geoff Williamson. Special thanks also to Ann Gunkel and Leslie Borns.

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