A few of us headed up to Montrose Harbor on the north side of Chicago yesterday in search of a rare and late shorebird visitor. There has been a Piping Plover that has intermittently been using the beaches here since October. We visited following approximately four straight days that the bird was sighted and the weather forecast was great for this time of year. Unfortunately, the bird was a no-show for us on this day. Since the Lincoln Park Zoo was almost directly across the street, we checked to see if they had a Piping Plover in their collection. This is the female bird in winter plumage pictured above.
The harbor held a decent number of waterfowl that we were able to get close enough for some shots. See below.
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 
Way cool, Bill. Great looking images.
Nice birds, I only see these types of waterfowl in the winter for some reason. They probably go way up north in the Summer.
Exactly, sir. Many of these ducks nest way up in the Canadian tundra. A future trip someday hopefully.