Monday, June 24, 2019

Two little birds are causing a big controversy

Piping plover on Montrose beach. (Photo by Fran Morel) 


     Even birds get tired.
     After a long dark flight over Lake Michigan — most songbirds migrate at night — they’re ready to flop down on the first solid ground they see.
     “The sun comes up, and they will immediately look for the closest place to land where they can find shelter, and in the Chicago area that place is Montrose,” said Greg Neise of the American Birding Association.
     Montrose juts out, a half-mile long welcome mat offering a smorgasbord of habitats for 300 types of birds: trees for warblers and thrushes, grassland for bobolink and meadowlarks, and of course beach, where endangered piping plovers scoop out tiny nests in the sand and lay their brown-speckled eggs.
     I admit, when the piping plover saga erupted, I did not rush to the ramparts. For those late to the party, JAM is moving its “Mamby on the Beach” music festival to Montrose, raising concerns about trampled plover nests.
     I like birds, but I’m not fanatical about it. There are a number of plovers, and if the piping plover goes down, well, the Wilson’s plover will do.
     This callousness vaporized after my friend Tony Fitzpatrick got me on the phone. You know Tony — artist, actor, writer, general Chicago renaissance man.

To continue reading, click here.

4 comments:

  1. Springsteen is a nostalgia act? Just wait until the Springsteen fans start responding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe they can relocate to a nesting site of Canadian Geese.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm with you, Neil. Although I couldn't tell a plover from a sparrow, if some one whose opinion I value expresses a strong opinion in support (or opposition) to the plovers' plight, I'm willing to go along. And if your wife, Neil, regards the Rolling Stones as the greatest rock band (with bluesy roots) in existence, I'll go along with that too, even though the only Stones' song I'm vaguely familiar with is "Satisfaction." So goes the world: if you want to get along, you have to go along.

    john

    ReplyDelete
  4. It wasn't clear to me just what the JAM Production guy intends to do. Is he going to find a location other than Montrose, or isn't he?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, and posted at the discretion of the proprietor.