There’s a small miracle at Montrose beach this summer, and it’s called Nagamo.
Nagamo is a Great Lakes piping plover and the grandchild of the famous Monty and Rose. Monty and Rose, as you may recall, became famous for being the first piping plovers to nest on Chicago’s lakeshore in decades.
The population of Great Lakes piping plovers is fragile, with only an estimated 70 breeding pairs in existence. So, when Monty and Rose successfully fledged chicks in 2019, 2020, and 2021 there was not only hope but a lot of excitement around these two small birds.
Monty and Rose may no longer be with us, but their legacy—and the hope they inspired—continues this summer. This year one of their offspring—Imani—returned to Montrose beach and successfully produced a clutch of four eggs with Sea Rocket. All four hatched, but only one of the chicks survived. And that chick was named Nagamo—which means he or she sings in the Ojibwe language. The name is entirely appropriate. It not only honors the Ojibwe people who were one of the original inhabitants of the land we now call Chicago, but it fits the piping plovers and their characteristic piping song.
And when Nagamo sings what we hear is the sound of hope—hope that these small, fragile birds have a chance to once again thrive on the shores of Lake Michigan and be heard piping on Chicago’s beaches
