The endangered piping plovers who nested at Montrose Beach the last three years have gone. Monty died suddenly last week, and Rose has not returned to Chicago. (Maybe Monty died of a broken heart?)
But a report from Duluth, Minn., has cheered the Chicago birding community:
A week after one of Chicago’s two beloved Great Lakes piping plovers died suddenly at Montrose Beach comes a bright spot: One of their chicks is alive and well and hanging out in Minnesota.
Imani, a chick born to Monty and Rose last year, was spotted this week in Duluth, Minn. The (most likely) male appears to be making it his summer nesting home after wintering in the South.
Imani was one of two chicks born last year to Monty and Rose, the piping plovers who captured Chicago’s heart after choosing Montrose Beach as their summer nesting grounds in 2019. It was the first time the rare species of piping plover nested in Chicago in five decades.
We haven't come close to preventing the extinction of this subspecies of piping plover, but at least the efforts of volunteers and birdwatchers in Chicago has given them one more generation.