The story of Monty and Rose started on the western side of Michigan in 2017. Monty was hatched high on a dune at Silver Lake State Park, and Rose was hatched from a nest at Muskegon State Park. The birds met in Waukegan, Ill., and attempted to nest there in 2018 in a parking lot (see photo of Rose above, courtesy of Emma England). The following year, they reunited at Montrose Beach in Chicago and attempted to become the first nesting Piping Plover pair in the city since 1955. That's where the "Monty and Rose" film begins. Those interviewed for the film include: Leslie Borns, volunteer site steward; Laura Cripe, sustainable business owner; Emma England, Lake County Audubon Society; Tony Fitzpatrick, actor/artist/author; Carl Giometti, Chicago Ornithological Society; Tamima Itani, Illinois Ornithological Society; Jill Niland, Chicago Ornithological Society; Brad Semel, Illinois Department of Natural Resources; and Edward Warden, Chicago Ornithological Society.

About filmmaker Bob Dolgan

Bob started the "Monty and Rose" project as a volunteer monitor in Chicago in 2019. Despite having little experience in filmmaking, he launched a Kickstarter to get a film made about the birds. Bob is the founder of Turnstone Strategies, a marketing/communications firm with a specialty in nonprofit organizations, and a Board Member of Chicago Ornithological Society. He writes the This Week in Birding newsletter, which is published twice each week. He's written in the past for the Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Reader, Chicago Wilderness, Richmond Times-Dispatch and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bob earned his BA from Kenyon College and his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
​​

Rose at Waukegan Beach in 2018, photo by Emma England