Join in 2026 Great Lakes Piping Plover breeding season prep! Will Chicago get a second nesting site in 2026? We hope so! www.chicagobirder.org/events/2025/...

As we close out Plover Appreciation Day with this year's theme #ploverart, celebrating Piping Plovers and the art they inspire continues. Head up to Waukegan for this special art exhibition! 🤍

The art of photography is prominently featured on this page through the Daily Imani and beyond. We are grateful to community members for sharing their pictures with us to share with you to tell this conservation story and inspire engagement in the recovery effort. 📸: Liam Francis Shanley (Pippin)

Recovery is a community effort Your endangered Great Lakes population of Piping Plovers had a record-breaking year with 88 nesting pairs. 1/3 🖼️: Julie Young (a beautiful painting of Imani, reference photo credit to Plovermother Tamima Itani) #ploverart #PloverAppreciationDay

When Sarah Freeman's daughter Caitlin set her June wedding date, mom went to work creating the MOST fantastic wedding cake toppers in stained glass, recognizing the bride's favorite animal is the Piping Plover. 🤍 So beautiful!

"A few years ago I was doing a 'scavenger hunt' and one of the tasks was to create an endangered species artwork using only edible things. Here is my Piping Plover made out of seeds, nuts, and peanut skins." ~ Your Chicago Piping Plover Monitor 🧡 Pam Litchfield Carmona #ploverart

Art serves as powerful historical record. This beautiful painting [reference photo credit to Wild Birds Unlimited] by Anne Essex, mother of one of your Chicago Piping Plover Monitors 🧡, takes us back to the Summer of 2023. 1/2 #PloverAppreciationDay #ploverart

Epic news! Aster, the 2025 Waukegan chick of Blaze and Pepper, has been sighted on wintering grounds! 🤍🟡

"I took my graduate researcher Collett to Montrose Beach to watch the plover chicks grow up this summer. She's a scientist and an artist. She made this cute little water color painting of one of the chicks when they were teenagers. 😊 I love it so much. ❤️❤️❤️" ~ Tirzah Abbott #ploverart

As we continue Plover Appreciation Day celebrations with the theme #ploverart, here's a closer look at Sophie Lucido Johnson's lovely painting (reference photo credit to Phil Stosberg), which was recently gifted to Plovermother Tamima Itani by your Chicago Piping Plover Monitor 🧡 Kat.

We are loving this year's theme for Plover Appreciation Day, #ploverart. Your Chicago Piping Plover Monitor 🧡 Brenda Janish made these sweet treats for the monitor season-end bash. She had the mold made and decorated the cookies - perfection! 🤍

Happy Plover Appreciation Day! Art/artists have a powerful role in conservation, evoking strong feelings and generating discussion. To kick off our celebration of Plover Appreciation Day w/ this year's theme #ploverart, enjoy this enchanting drawing by your Chicago PIPL Monitor 🧡 Glenna Anderson.

Today is the big day - Happy #PloverAppreciationDay ! We're excited to share submissions to our student art competition and some of the art from our talented coastal communities. Stay tuned for our announcement of winners at 5pm AEST later this evening! #PAD2025

Art murals and sculptures play such a powerful role in communicating local conservation issues – especially when placed in coastal towns with high numbers of visitors! Unlike the secretive and well-camouflaged Hoodie nests and chicks, you really can't miss these striking artworks. #PAD2025

Montrose Dunes Stewardship Workday: This Saturday, September 20

Yay for Illinois Plovers! Your ILLINOIS Piping Plover Monitors wrapped up the 2025 breeding season, celebrating the highs and still feeling the lows (we never forget our lost chicks). Two nests! Two monitoring teams! Tremendous passion and commitment. 1/2

It's #PloverAppreciationDay this Tuesday 16th and we've already had incredible entries to our art competition! It’s not too late! If you know someone aged between 4-13 who wants to share their talents and appreciation for plovers, have them enter our competition! Details in photo.

The season is over, but if you’re still hankering for some Plover time, visit our table at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum between 10AM and 4PM today and tomorrow at the Urban Birding Festival. You may even have a chance to have your picture photobombed by COS president, Edward Warden.

Read about LO Beebee and her first migration to wintering grounds. She is the daughter of Uncle Larry, who made a brief stop at Montrose this Spring, and the sister of Benny and Ray, who were released in Waukegan in July. 🤍 www.greatlakespipingplover.org/single-post/...

"The extinction of a species should be a wake-up call, not a eulogy."

A terrific read! 🤍 news.umich.edu/piping-plove...

What a wonderful day to celebrate Your Chicago Piping Plover Monitors! Camaraderie, laughs, and hopes for 2026 swirled about the room during the end of season bash. 1/2

What better way to celebrate National #ThreatenedSpeciesDay than with the first #HoodedPlover chicks of the season in south west WA? The tiny fluff balls were seen foraging along the beach with their parents. Remember to give birds space! 📷 @birdlifeoz.bsky.social Project Officer Tegan Knowles

Less than a month for #PloverAppreciationDay on 16 Sept! We started dedicating #plovers this day back in 2015. We'll be celebrating 10th anniversary with an art competition for children. Entries by 15 Sept to [email protected]. We'd love to see #ploverart on socials from all ages as well!

Hi! We're new here but maybe you followed us on X! We're @birdlifeoz.bsky.social's Beach-nesting Birds team - working to give birds that nest on Australian beaches a chance to raise their young 🐥 We've uploaded our past X posts, so you can learn about our work if you didn't know us! #plovers

Celebrating and Protecting Shorebirds 6 September is recognized as World Shorebirds Day to raise awareness of the alarming rates of decline in world shorebird species and vital habitat. Urgent action is needed. Learn more at www.worldshorebirdsday.org.

Your Chicago Piping Plovers (well, the monitors 🧡) will be there with a table. Looking forward to meeting you there!

I spy with my little eye... Piping Plovers on that shirt! 🤍

Over the Top and Over the Moon Thanks to a $10,000 donation received this week, we have well exceeded the goal for our Chicago Piping Plover Fund for the 2026 nesting season. We thank the anonymous donor for their largess! 1/3

🤍 it!

This is incredible! Plover Appreciation Day (September 16) is about 2 weeks away and we are at 72% of our fundraising goal! We are so grateful for and humbled by your support as we raise funds for the 2026 nesting season. 1/2

A key strategy aiding in the recovery of the endangered population of Great Lakes Piping Plovers is the captive-rearing program. If you'd like to learn more, we highly recommend this book. All proceeds benefit Great Lakes Piping Plover conservation and research. www.amazon.com/Raised-Be-Wi...

We are so grateful for and humbled by your support as we raise funds for the 2026 nesting season. The thought of a second nest in Chicago is palpable and we have much prep to do whilst our beloved piping plovers are on wintering grounds. 1/2

Where in the world are your Chicago Piping Plovers? El was the last to be observed in Chicago and that was on August 17. Now, we await reports of sightings from wintering grounds although no sightings is not cause for alarm as Imani, Sea Rocket, and Pippin have proven. 1/3

We are 241 days out from the 2026 nesting season and are at 63% of our fundraising goal. Thank you for your support! The thought of a second nest in Chicago is palpable and we have much prep to do whilst our beloved plovers are on wintering grounds. 1/2

Our goals, like our plovers, are gutsy! They must be, to meet the moment. September 16 is Plover Appreciation Day. Could we reach our goal of $16,000 for our 2026 nesting season Chicago Piping Plover Fund by then? 1/2

Our thanks to Melodie Bishop for reporting in from 63rd Street Beach today! 🤍 1/2 📸: Brian Morris (Ray, 63rd Street Beach, August 18, 2025)

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Oh, your name is Ray! Ray was observed at 63rd Street Beach Sunday evening where El is continuing. Is this a sneak peek at the 2026 nesting season?! 📸: Jing-Yi Lu (El on pier, El on beach, Ray, August 17, 2025)

Ploco-Motion 🤍🚊 📸: Rachel Schaffnit (El, 63rd Street Beach, August 17, 2025)

Artist Caitlin Barry was inspired by Steve Jessmore's wonderful photograph of El and a swallowtail butterfly. Thank you for sharing, Caitlin! We 🤍 it!

It’s not plover ‘til it’s plover. ~ Liam Francis Shanley 🧡 El (and Bean, for that matter) is 58 days old today. When Papa Imani was a fledgling, he departed IL at 61 days old. El may continue to migrate in days or maybe a week or so. 1/4 📸: Lin Johnston (El, 63rd Street Beach, August 15, 2025)

Feminist Bird Club Chicago enjoyed a lovely Sunday morning with El on the pier at 63rd Street Beach. 🤍

El happily foraging on the pier at 63rd Street Beach Saturday evening despite the rain.

Thank you, @wttw.bsky.social ! 🤍

Friday with El at 63rd Street Beach! 🤍🚊

El was sighted at 63rd Street Beach this morning and has taken a jaunt or has perhaps moved on as of this post. 🤍🚊 📸: Adrian Engele (August 15, 2025)

Uncle Larry's Boy: Ray! The Montrose Piping Plover Breeding Season began with Pippin and new-to-us plover Uncle Larry arriving on April 11. 1/2 🎥: Janet Pellegrini (Ray, Montrose, August 12, 2025)

Sanderling or Semipalmated Sandpiper? First, we agree with everyone who ID-ed El's new friend, featured in our last post, as "cute"! 1/2 🎥: Aga Sukiennik (63rd Street Beach, August 14, 2025)

Bird ID Fun! Can you ID the species of El's new friend? 🎥: Aga Sukiennik (63rd Street Beach, August 14, 2025)