Sharing Our Shore - Waukegan
LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS
Although we’re not sure if the Piping Plovers will nest at Waukegan Beach this season, we have a training program that covers information for all our Sharing Our Shore-Waukegan volunteers. The training program covers basic information related to the SOS-W program itself and situations that volunteers might encounter. The program is useful whether you’re a returning volunteer, or a new volunteer who has signed up to be a part of the Support Team in the event that Piping Plovers nest. Please click below for the video. If nesting occurs, there will be additional training. If you’d like to volunteer for the Support Team, please add your contact information to our Volunteer database link located below.
If you have any questions, please email Lake County Audubon at lakecountyaudubonsociety@gmail.com.
Sharing Our Shore - Waukegan Committee
Sharing Our Shore-Waukegan, a partnership between the Lake County Audubon Society and the City of Waukegan, is looking for Volunteers to protect the Piping Plovers, in the event that these endangered birds nest again in Waukegan this Spring.
Piping Plovers are a federally endangered shore bird, and the Waukegan Dunes have been designated as critical habitat for these birds. There are only about 70 pairs of Piping Plovers in the Great Lakes. The survival of each Piping Plover chick is really important, and you can have a role in protecting this endangered species.
You do not need to have a lot of birding knowledge to participate in this monitoring program! Sharing Our Shore-Waukegan will teach you. Although we will not know until May whether or not we’ll need Volunteer help, we’re compiling a list of potential Volunteers now so we are prepared in case the Piping Plovers return to nest.
If you are interested in volunteering:
The commitment would likely be 2 hours per shift until the Piping Plover chicks leave. Shift can vary. You can sign up for shifts that work for your availability.
Monitoring will take place from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, 7 days a week.
Please use this link to add your contact information to our Volunteer database.
If you have any questions, please send them to lakecountyaudubonsociety@gmail.com.
Thank you –
Sharing Our Shore- Waukegan Committee
SHARING OUR SHORE-WAUKEGAN
Lake County Audubon Society (LCAS) is excited to announce that we are partnering with the City of Waukegan on a Beach Stewardship Program: Sharing Our Shore – Waukegan.
Shorebirds have declined 70% in North America since the 1970’s due to habitat loss, predation, climate change and human disturbances. Conservation of breeding, stopover and wintering habitat is crucial for shorebird survival.
Waukegan’s unique dune and swale habitat is home to a large diversity of plants and wildlife including threatened and endangered species and is excellent habitat for a wide range of birds. In 2017 and 2018 the Waukegan dunes were the only site in Illinois where the state endangered Common Tern attempted to breed. Federally endangered Piping Plovers also nested in Waukegan in 2018. A story that made front page news in the local press.
The Sharing Our Shore – Waukegan Partnership’s goals are to monitor bird species and increase public support for bird conservation at Waukegan Beach. The program will raise awareness of Waukegan’s special habitat and build on the reputation of Waukegan as a city dedicated to conserving its lakeshore.
In 2018 Waukegan was the first city in Illinois to proclaim 2018 as the Year of the Bird, a success that was nationally recognized by National Audubon. The Sharing Our Shore – Waukegan Beach Stewardship Partnership will achieve another first in Illinois for Waukegan.
LCAS is now recruiting and will be training Volunteer Stewards to monitor birds and to be part of the public outreach program which will have a presence on the beach on Saturdays from 1-3pm from May – July. Training will take place on April 13. Those interested in volunteering should contact LCAS via email at: lakecountyaudubonsociety@gmail.com
The program will begin with a kick-off event on at 1-3pm on Saturday May 4, 2019. Click here to see the invitation. Click here to see photos of the event, and an event later in the program which was arranged for Faith in Place, all taken by Chip Young, North Shore Camera Club.
LCAS is delighted that we have this opportunity to partner with the City of Waukegan to increase public awareness of the extraordinary habitat at Waukegan Beach and to contribute to bird conservation on the lakeshore. Click here for the press release.
Click here for Sharing Our Shore-Waukegan Self Guided Walk.
Click here for a report on our successful first year.
Click here for the 2020 Audubon In Action/AIA Report.
Click here for the 2021 Audubon In Action/AIA Report.
NEWS:During the first week of July, 2021 Sharing Our Shore-Waukegan was a participant in the Glenwood Elementary School Summer School program. Approximately 200 students, grades 1st through 5th, and 19 teachers, met on the Waukegan Beach over a 3 day period. The children rotated between 3 activities; a beach exploratory walk, a tour of the water treatment plant, and SOS-W interactive demonstrations of why and how water is essential to all life forms, with a focus on the Waukegan Dunes. Each child received the Audubon Adventures magazine, “Caretaking Our World’s Water”, as well as other materials.
Nish makes history of his own as Monty and Rose face a setback
The good, the bad and the reality of shorebird life
Jun 7, 2021
Piping Plover. Photo: Emma England
Nellie, left, and Nish tending to their nest scrape on Saturday at Maumee Bay State Park.
One of the themes that’s emerged in two years of covering Great Lakes Piping Plovers is the tenuousness of life on the beach. That delicate balance was on full display last week.
In a 48-hour period last week, we learned of Nish nesting in Ohio and of Monty and Rose losing their eggs. It’s the capriciousness and the harsh reality of nature. And that’s magnified when there are only 65 or so pairs of Great Lakes plovers remaining anywhere in the world.
Let’s start with the good. One of the story lines going into this plover nesting season—maybe THE story line—was where the 2020 chicks that hatched at Chicago’s Montrose Beach might show up to breed. The 2020 brood, Esperanza, Hazel and Nish, were the first Chicago chicks to be banded, meaning we’d know where Chicago-hatched birds might like to spend the summer. This just wasn’t information anyone had before; there hadn’t been a successful nest in Chicago since 1948 and plover banding is a more recent development.
In late May, there were reports of 2020 chick Nish being seen at a beach near Toledo, Ohio, with two other Piping Plovers. Surely, though, Nish would be moving north. Ohio hadn’t had a Piping Plover nest in more than 80 years.
Then the delightful news arrived last Tuesday that Nish and one of the plovers had a nest scrape with an egg in it. Nish, who it turns out is male, joined Pennsylvania-hatched Nellie to make history, and a cadre of volunteers and staff from Black Swamp Bird Observatory leapt into action along with wildlife managers.
Just as everyone in the world of Monty and Rose was glowing at the news, we had a rough day back here in Chicago. Rose had laid her fourth egg in mid-May in the center of the habitat addition at the Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area. Incubation was under way, and, other than a bizarre overnight encounter with a mylar balloon, chicks were expected very soon—as soon as this week. Again, there are vagaries of shorebird nesting life, and really most any bird’s nesting life.
One of the scenes you might remember from “Monty and Rose” were all the mammalian predators passing by the wire nest exclosure at night. Volunteer monitors arrived early Thursday and discovered the plovers off the nest and the eggs missing. It was later discovered that a skunk was the culprit and had accessed the nest and eaten the eggs overnight.
Here’s the silver lining, though: Monty and Rose have experienced this before (remember the 2019 nest washout?) and succeeded. Later Thursday, they resumed courtship behavior and began scraping new nests.
The fleeting character of beach life means that thrilling things can happen, too. Just like Nish becoming a pioneer in northwest Ohio. And that’s what’s heartening with a long summer ahead.
Children’s book makes its debut
Monty beat his wings faster. Any minute now he’d be with Rose. Last summer they had promised to meet at Montrose Beach to nest there.
A song filled his heart when he spotted the beach. ‘Pip-pip-pip-pip,’ he called to let Rose know he was back. But who was that other Piping Plover? A male! He was dancing for Rose!
The above excerpt is from the beginning of “Monty and Rose Nest at Montrose,” a children’s book written by retired healthcare industry professional and “Plovermother” Tamima Itani. The book goes on to chronicle the 2019 nesting season, Monty and Rose’s first in Chicago, and the hatching and rearing of two chicks.
Most of you may know Tamima as the volunteer coordinator for Piping Plover monitoring efforts and as a board member of the Illinois Ornithological Society. I enjoyed reading every word of this book, especially the nifty depictions of actual events like the one above (there was a rival plover at Montrose in early 2019).
Anna-Maria Crum provided the lovely illustrations for the book, which is available via the Plovermother website. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from sales will be donated to support research and conservation efforts of Piping Plovers and shorebirds.
CURRENT VOLUNTEERS CLICK HERE
A Little Blue Heron made a surprise visit to Gurnee!