Stories by Patty Wetli

Millions of birds will pass over the Chicago region this weekend as migration kicks into high gear. Want to be a good host? Turn off your lights.

The two unidentified plovers — one male, one female — that had joined Imani at Montrose have flown the coop, temporarily dashing the hopes of plover monitors for a love match and successful nesting season in Chicago.

Great Britain will crank its pomp and pageantry machine up to 11 this weekend for the coronation of King Charles III. Here’s how Chicagoans can join the festivities, including reliving the city’s memorable brush with royalty.

Every time you flush, the waste disappears in a swirly whirl, never to be seen again. It’s magic! Actually, it’s science and engineering. WTTW News Explains. 

Lincoln Park Zoo said farewell today to a 300-year-old bur oak, but the tree will live on in multiple ways.

A mystery vandal is once again undoing ecological restoration work at LaBagh Woods.

It's time for the annual City Nature Challenge, a friendly global competition among hundreds of cities, running from Friday through Monday. Here's how to submit nature observations and boost Chicago in the standings.

There’s a love triangle brewing at Montrose Beach, where Imani the piping plover has been joined by a mystery bachelor and … a female.

Chicago’s birders are celebrating the arrival of Imani at Montrose Beach. The piping plover is a 2021 chick of Monty and Rose.

A coalition of attorneys general said the Federal Trade Commission needs to strengthen the process for “ensuring consumers are protected from companies providing overinflated or even false claims about their products’ environmental benefits.”

The employees were charged with accepting bribes in exchange for reducing assessed values on properties owned by Chicago-area fence installation company.

More than 20 years after residents began their fight to save the stair-step limestone wall at Promontory Point on the south lakefront, the Point was declared an official Chicago Landmark during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Crews are scheduled to begin removal of the ancient bur oak on May 1. The zoo is planning Arbor Day events on April 28 to give the tree a celebratory farewell.

The CHARM Center, as it’s been dubbed, will open Saturday in South Holland. The free, permanent recycling hub will accept items including electronics, textiles and Styrofoam, many of which are reusable.

Peak bloom is still a couple weeks away, but the buds are beginning to burst forth in Jackson Park’s Cherry Blossom Grove.

A new short documentary, “Watershed Warriors,” focuses on Friends of the Fox River and the progress the organization has made to reclaim the waterway as a natural resource for the people, wildlife and plants that live within its watershed.

According to a new survey, there’s been a shift in the percentage of Americans who believe humans are the primary driver of climate change as opposed to natural changes in the environment.

In true springtime-in-Chicago fashion, last week’s record-setting summer-like temperatures gave way to a return on winter Monday, as people woke up to snow-covered cars and below-freezing wind chills.

After months of great eggs-pectations, the Forest Preserve District of Will County has announced the arrival of five baby bald eagles.

On Friday, Lincoln Park Zoo’s three new male African lion cubs greeted the public in their outdoor habitat for the first time since they were born Jan. 9.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved preliminary landmark status for the Warehouse, a “magical place” where DJ Frankie Knuckles is credited with creating House music.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted unanimously Thursday to grant preliminary landmark status to a pair of early 20th century skyscrapers slated for demolition by the federal government.

Free concerts, theater and dance performances, and workouts are also part of the slate of summer events in Millennium Park announced Thursday by city officials.

Chicagoans will enjoy another summer-like day, with the temperature predicted to hit what would be a record-setting 83 degrees on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

A new policy gives Park District commissioners final say over permits for so-called “mega festivals.” It received its first test Wednesday.

Leaders of both museums cited inflation and the higher cost of wages and benefits among the reasons for raising admission fees.