A piping plover named Rose appears at Montrose Beach in Chicago on April 26, 2021. Rose and her mate, Monty, first met on a Waukegan beach when they were only a few months old. They attempted to nest in Waukegan in 2018, without success, but in 2019, they ended up fledging two chicks on Montrose. And last summer, they fledged three. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Love may be in store for Imani, the endangered piping plover of Montrose Beach.
He struck out looking for a mate last season.
But in less than a day after being spotted by birders at Montrose on Wednesday, Imani welcomed two new friends at his North Side nesting grounds.
A second male plover was first spotted at the beach Wednesday afternoon, according to local birders posting updates to the Chicago Piping Plovers Twitter page.
Birders suspected it was the male spotted earlier at 57th Street Beach.
But by Thursday morning, a female plover was spotted at the beach — lighting a fire under the hopes that Imani may finally mate.
“Two male plovers and one female plover. Who will she choose? This is the dating show I want,” wrote Twitter user BoHo Chicagoan.
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Imani is the offspring of Monty and Rose, whose choice of nesting at Montrose Beach prompted bird advocates and the city to cordon off beach space to shield the endangered and federally protected piping plovers.
The effort ultimately torpedoed the Mamby on the Beach festival in 2019.
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Monty died at Montrose Beach in May 2022 after volunteers saw him behaving oddly and stumbling. Rose hasn’t returned to Montrose Beach and is feared dead.
