Photo by Dan Kirk
WHAT IS SHARING OUR SHORE - WAUKEGAN?
Sharing Our Shore–Waukegan is about connection. Connection between people and nature. Between communities and the Lake Michigan shoreline. Between local conservation efforts and a growing network of partners working together across the Great Lakes to protect one of North America's most endangered birds.
Rather than stepping away after the nesting attempt ended, Lake County Audubon approached the City of Waukegan with a vision: create a community partnership that would protect piping plovers through volunteer monitoring while engaging the public through education, outreach, and stewardship. With strong support from city leadership, Lake County Audubon and the City of Waukegan signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February 2019, creating the partnership known as Sharing Our Shore–Waukegan.
Today, Sharing Our Shore has grown into far more than a piping plover conservation program. These tiny shorebirds have become ambassadors for an entire ecosystem, introducing people to the rare Lake Plain habitats of northeastern Illinois and the hundreds of plants and animals that depend on them. Along the way, they have connected volunteers with scientists, students with educators, artists with conservationists, local governments with community organizations, and Waukegan with a remarkable network of partners working throughout the Great Lakes and across the birds' migratory range.
Our approach is rooted in collaboration. We build long-term, trust-based relationships with community organizations, educators, conservation partners, government agencies, and elected officials because lasting conservation depends on people working together. By helping communities understand and appreciate the places they call home, we create lasting stewardship for both wildlife and habitat.
Sharing Our Shore - Waukegan welcomes volunteers of all experience levels. Whether you're an experienced birder or simply someone who wants to make a difference, there is a place for you. Volunteers may assist with bird monitoring, public outreach, educational programs, stewardship projects, community events, or behind-the-scenes support. Every volunteer receives training, educational resources, and the guidance of experienced team members.
What began with one pair of piping plovers has grown into something much larger - a community united by the belief that conservation succeeds when people develop a connection to the places they share.
Our story began in 2018 when a pair of endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers attempted to nest in a gravel parking lot at Waukegan Municipal Beach. With no long-term monitoring program or protection plan in place, most visitors had no idea an endangered species was trying to raise a family just steps away. Despite protective fencing and signage, vehicles continued to drive recklessly through the parking lot, and tire tracks showed cars circling dangerously close to the nest. To give the eggs their best chance of survival, wildlife biologists made the difficult decision to remove them and transport them to the University of Michigan Biological Station in Pellston for captive rearing. The following year, the pair returned to the Chicago area and successfully nested at Montrose Beach, where they became known to thousands as "Monty & Rose."
For the Lake County Audubon Society, that first nesting attempt revealed something much larger than the plight of a single endangered species. It highlighted an opportunity to help people discover the remarkable ecological value of Waukegan's dunes, beaches, wetlands, and Lake Michigan shoreline—and to build lasting support for protecting them.
A Remarkable Place
Today, Sharing Our Shore–Waukegan continues to bring together volunteers, educators, artists, scientists, conservation organizations, government agencies, and community partners in support of a common goal: protecting the Lake Plain and the remarkable diversity of life it supports. Together, we are helping ensure that Waukegan's shoreline remains a place where birds, wildlife, and people can thrive for generations to come.
The endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover may have inspired Sharing Our Shore–Waukegan, but its story is really about something much larger. The Waukegan shoreline lies within the Lake Plain, one of the most ecologically significant landscapes in the Great Lakes region. Its beaches, dunes, wetlands, and nearshore habitats support hundreds of species of plants and animals while providing an important stopover for migratory birds traveling the Lake Michigan flyway. Protecting these habitats means protecting an entire ecosystem—and the communities that have become connected to it.
The Waukegan shoreline lies within the Lake Plain, a rare landscape of dunes, swales, wetlands, beaches, and savannas that supports exceptional biological diversity.
Beaches, dunes, wetlands, marshes, and nearshore waters provide essential habitat for feeding, nesting, migration, and shelter for hundreds of species of wildlife.
Waukegan is home to the only federally designated Critical Habitat for the endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover in Illinois.
The City of Waukegan named the Great Lakes Piping Plover its Official City Bird on May 20, 2024.
Nearly 300 bird species have been documented in the Waukegan area, reflecting the extraordinary diversity of habitats found along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Waukegan's shoreline attracts birders, photographers, educators, researchers, and nature enthusiasts from throughout Illinois and beyond.
In partnership with the Lake County Audubon Society, Waukegan became Illinois' first certified Bird City, recognizing the community's commitment to bird conservation and habitat stewardship.
Birdwatching is one of the fastest-growing outdoor recreation activities in North America. The Waukegan shoreline has become an increasingly popular destination for people hoping to experience migration along Lake Michigan and witness one of the nation's most inspiring endangered species recovery stories.
Through the return of the Great Lakes Piping Plover, thousands of people have discovered the remarkable natural heritage of Waukegan's lakefront and the importance of protecting the habitats that sustain both wildlife and people.
Why Shorebirds Need Our Help
North America's shorebird populations have declined by an estimated 70 percent since the 1970s due to habitat loss, climate change, human disturbance, and other environmental pressures. Beaches and shorelines that once provided safe places for birds to nest, feed, and rest during migration have become increasingly fragmented and disturbed.
The Lake Plain shoreline remains one of the most important coastal habitats in Illinois. Its beaches, dunes, wetlands, and swales provide habitat not only for the endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover, but also for hundreds of species of birds, native plants, pollinators, amphibians, reptiles, and other wildlife that depend on the Lake Plain ecosystem.
Beach-nesting birds face unique challenges. Although they are remarkably well adapted to wind, storms, changing lake levels, and other natural conditions, they cannot easily adapt to repeated human disturbance. A person or unleashed dog that unknowingly approaches a nest can cause adult birds to leave their eggs or chicks exposed to dangerous heat, cold, predators, or exhaustion. In some cases, repeated disturbance may even cause a nest to fail.
The Great Lakes Piping Plover is one of the rarest breeding birds in North America, with only about 88 breeding pairs remaining. Every successful nest contributes to the recovery of the species and provides hope for its future.
Protecting these habitats benefits far more than a single endangered bird. Healthy shorelines support cleaner water, greater biodiversity, resilient coastal ecosystems, outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation, and meaningful connections between people and nature.
Every visitor who chooses to respect protected nesting areas, keep dogs out of sensitive habitat, stay on designated trails, or simply learn more about the wildlife that shares our shoreline becomes part of that conservation story. Together, we can help ensure that future generations experience the same sense of wonder inspired by watching a tiny piping plover race across a Lake Michigan beach.
Dive Deeper into The Lake Plain
The Lake Plain Coastal Preserves protect the last remaining dune and swale system in Illinois—a living, breathing landscape that has been migrating along Lake Michigan's shore for nearly 4,000 years. Here, prickly pear cactus and other native wonders persist just miles from industrial corridors, while over 930 plant species and 310 bird species create a biodiversity hotspot that parallels larger wilderness areas.
This isn't just a beautiful place to visit; it's a critical ecosystem that protects drinking water for 8.5 million people, provides refuge for globally rare species, and offers surrounding communities a chance to discover the extraordinary hiding in plain sight. Called by wonder, driven by purpose, the Lake Plain Coalition works to ensure this irreplaceable landscape continues to thrive for generations of curious explorers and dedicated stewards.
The Lake Plain Coastal Preserves are managed and conserved by the Lake Plain Coalition. The Lake Plain Coalition began in 2006 as a grant-funded planning initiative and then was formally established in 2010 through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between seven founding partners.
Today, it has grown into a self-organized alliance of over 20 member organizations working across state lines to protect and restore this unique ecosystem.