Left: Native-born Imani at Montrose Beach, April 2023. (Courtesy of Matthew Dolkart) Right: A piping plover egg – a product of piping plover pair Imani and Searocket – recently spotted at Montrose Beach. (Courtesy of Chicago Park District)
A piping plover egg has been spotted at Montrose Beach and could hatch within the next month, the Chicago Park District and its nature conservation partners announced Friday.
The egg is a culmination of yearslong efforts by nature groups to boost the Great Lakes piping plover population, which has been listed as federally endangered since 1986.
Onlookers are being asked to stay away from the nest and not to approach the area for the survival of the egg.
The egg is the product of a recent pair bond between native-born Imani, who hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, and Searocket, one of the 5-week-old captive-reared piping plover chicks released at the beach last year.
It was the first time piping plovers were released in the state to help boost population numbers, with the ultimate hope being that they would return to Montrose Beach to nest in the spring, nature groups said.
“This grand experiment in trying to recover the iconic symbol of the Great Lakes shoreline has come full circle with the return of both wild hatched and captive reared young,” Brad Semel, Illinois Department of Natural Resources endangered species recovery specialist, said in a statement.
Birding enthusiasts and volunteers with the Chicago Piping Plovers group gather to monitor piping plovers at Montrose Beach following the release of three plovers, of whom include Searocket, on July 12, 2023. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
The conservation efforts are a joint effort between the Chicago Park District, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Chicago Piping Plovers volunteer group.
The park district and its partners said they will be working to monitor the fenced area near the nest to ward off and deter predators from approaching. All staff and volunteers on watch will wear highly visible gear when inside the area and along the shoreline, according to a news release.
People can help keep the nest and egg safe by respecting closed area boundaries, keeping dogs on leashes and taking trash with them at the end of their beach visit, groups said.
The egg is located in a protected area at Montrose Beach Dunes along the shoreline, near the newly named Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat.
Monty and Rose — the parents of Imani — are one of the city’s most famous plover couples; they nested at Montrose Beach for three seasons in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They were the first two plover chicks to fledge in the city in 71 years, according to the Chicago Bird Alliance.
Piping plovers had disappeared from Illinois beaches around 1955. They were then seen nesting in the state 60 years later in 2015 as population numbers started increasing, according to the park distict.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]
