Chicago's beloved piping plovers coming to Music Box Theatre in new documentary

Chicago's famous Great Lakes Piping Plovers are coming to the big screen.

A new documentary called "Monty and Rose 2: The World of Monty and Rose" will premiere on September 4 at the Music Box Theater.

Bob Dolgan, the director of the film, joined Good Day Chicago on Monday to talk about what viewers can expect.

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"They're a pair of endangered piping plovers that had decided to nest starting in 2019 in Chicago. This hadn't happened since 1948," Dolgan said. There are only about 70 pairs or so of these birds left in the world. And so when they landed, I was among the first people there protecting them, and I thought, you know, maybe there should be a film. This is the busiest beach in Chicago. It's still mind-blowing that they chose to nest there and it's been a mighty effort to help them out each year since then."

The film highlights the history of the lakefront and spotlights the volunteers and experts who have worked hard to make sure Monty, Rose and their chicks stay safe.

"To look at about four years in these birds lives before - think of it as a prequel - before even they came to Chicago with a little bit of a sequel to so then we bring people up up to speed and they go through 2020 and a beach that's left empty by the pandemic, and then they come into 2021, which is essentially where we are now," Dolgan said.

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"So it's about a four year story and so we really go into much more depth into the birds and all of the challenges they face. I mean, they run so many risks out there. Their nests are nothing more than a shallow little scrape in the sand. They don't have almost any protection. And so we document as much as we can. They face all sorts of predators like skunks, raccoons, coyotes, fox and as well as just people. I mean, there's a lot of people out on Montrose Beach. For anybody who's ever been to Montrose Beach in the middle of summer, you would know that."