2021 Montrose Updates

Imani hangs out at the Dog Beach. Siewka demonstrates raptor avoidance skills. And Monty departs.

This has been a season of challenges for Monty and Rose. Imani and Siewka make it all worthwhile.

Monty and Rose’s chicks hatched in 2021 were named during a live event at Montrose on July 330, 2021.

In the past few days there has been a lot of changes with the Montrose plover family, some expected, and some that we were hoping to avoid.

It’s time! On Friday, July 30 at 5pm, the public is invited to tune in to Facebook live and celebrate the name reveal of the two endangered piping plover chicks that hatched and were successfully raised on Montrose Beach this summer.

Names for the chicks were solicited from Chicagoland residents and then selected from the submissions by a committee, with the goal of representing Chicago’s diversity.

Today, a team of biologists from the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team (GLPIPL) placed color bands on the four piping plover chicks at Montrose Beach Dunes. The color bands will identify the birds as Great Lakes Piping Plovers and as Monty and Rose’s Montrose chicks.

A new adult Piping Plover appears at Montrose for a total of seven endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers at Chicago beach in another win for habitat restoration and conservation.

When the fourth egg in Rose and Monty’s 2021 second clutch does not hatch and the parents cease incubation, the decision is made to take it to the Lincoln Park Zoo and incubate it there. What happens next is the most heart-warming story.

The Lincoln Park Zoo releases 4th chick to the care of Monty and Rose

On behalf of Chicago’s beloved Monty and Rose, we are proud to announce the hatching of their 2021 chicks. Just before 2:00 pm on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, a tiny fuzzy chick was glimpsed in the nest, confirmed again minutes later. At 3:15 pm, Rose carried an eggshell fragment away from the nest, thus announcing the arrival of a second chick.

The Chicago Piping Plovers rely on volunteers to monitor and protect our vulnerable and endangered visitors.

The surveillance camera has revealed 4 eggs on Rose and Monty's second nest. What a champ our Rose is!

This means that incubation has started. Monty and Rose will stay on the nest continuously now, until (we hope) the chicks are hatched.

We personally find it incredible that these birds come back to Montrose Beach of all places. When we first heard that Monty and Rose were back at Montrose this year, a smile lit up on our faces. The true beauty of these birds and how, year after year, they come back to the same place to breed.

Rose and Monty’s story is one of strong resilience and persistence. Only six and a half days after suffering a blow at the paws of an opportunistic skunk, they have established a new nest and Rose has laid an egg.

Last night, a Skunk was sadly able to access the eggs from outside the exclosure and destroy Monty and Rose’s nest. They are resillient however, and have began courting and scraping again, showing us they will not give up.

Rose and Monty acquired new jewelry today!

In the early hours of May 17, 2021, a Chicago Piping Plover is scared off the nest in a troubling event.

Monty and Rose have yet again chosen to nest at Montrose, completing the hat trick they began in 2019.

Monty arrived at Montrose Beach today, in full breeding plumage, just one day after Rose, to begin the nesting season. After a long flight from Texas, Monty can be seen foraging for food along the beach, with Rose.

Plover lovers and Monty and Rose fans were thrilled to hear that Rose has arrived safely at Montrose Beach to start the 2021 plover nesting season, we hope! Rose wintered in Florida, and traveled over 1,000 miles to Montrose from Anclote Key.

A large group of volunteers did a little spring cleaning at Montrose Beach this morning. Volunteers covered the beach and the protected area, meticulously plucking even the smallest particles of plastic from the sand.

Tamima Itani had the opportunity to visit Monty in Texas. Read her account of this fascinating visit to the beaches of Texas and finding this special plover as he prepares for his trip to the Great Lakes.

Originally spotted at Anclote Key in December by Danny Sauvageau, it is now certain that Rose is wintering in Florida again. It took a few weeks to confirm, as we only had partial band numbers in the first photos we received. Rose has spent her last 3 winters at Anclote Key, and this year, her offspring Nish is there with her as well.

We are happy to report that Monty has been identified recently in Bolivar Flats, Texas, by Kristen Vale, with the American Bird Conservancy.