Four piping plover chicks belonging to Imani and Searocket have hatched at Montrose Beach, according to bird experts.Three chicks hatched Sunday at Montrose Beach days after another trio of plovers hatched in Waukegan. A fourth chick hatched Monday morning."It's something we've been waiting for for the last couple of years," said Matt Igleski, executive director of the Chicago Bird Alliance. "I think it's a really good, hopeful step forward for piping plovers in the Great Lakes region." The chicks hatched roughly a month after the first egg was found in a protected area of Montrose Beach.Tamima Itani, lead volunteer coordinator with the Chicago Piping Plovers, said the past few weeks have been nerve-wracking due to stormy weather possibly damaging the eggs or disrupting the nest. "It's a huge relief," Itani said. "It's really nice to see that they made it, that they all have hatched."Itani described the chicks as "tiny fluff balls on toothpicks" with big eyes. Imani and Searocket keep the chicks under their wings for warmth and they stumble around the protected area of the beach trying to learn how to walk."They walk around and then they tumble and get right back up," Itani said. When news broke of the chicks' arrivals, an increased number of bird enthusiasts, equipped with binoculars and cameras, made their way to the beach, to catch a glimpse of the new family, according to Itani. While bird experts understand the excitement seeing the new chicks, they ask spectators not to enter the protected area or interfere with the plovers' feeding. The Chicago Park District asks that beach visitors help keep the newly hatched chicks, the nest and remaining egg safe by respecting closed-area boundaries, keeping dogs on leashes and taking trash with them when they leave.Experts say trash left on the beach can attract seagulls, which pose a threat to plovers. Flying kites at the beach is also discouraged as plovers may interpret the object as a predator. There are 70 to 80 breeding pairs of plovers in the Great Lakes region every year, with the vast majority of those in Michigan, according to Igleski. "Having not only one but two pairs of plovers with young right now in Illinois is very significant," Igleski said. Imani was hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, an offspring of the piping plovers Monty and Rose. Searocket, a captive-reared chick, was released at Montrose Beach in July 2023.Igleski noted Searocket was brought from Michigan and released from Montrose in hopes the plover would come back."This kind of experiment of releasing chicks in different areas around the Great Lakes seems to have worked, at least for now," Igleski said. "It seems like a strategy that might be used more often going forward since that seemed to be a real winner in this case."Piping plovers had disappeared from Illinois beaches around 1955, and the first chicks since then hatched in 2019 at Montrose Beach. The bird species is still considered endangered in the Great Lakes region.Chicks hatch throughout June and into July, according to Great Lakes Piping Plovers.Itani called on enthusiasts to be mindful of the chicks' safety and enjoy them while they're here. "It is very special that they're here with us in Chicago and Waukegan," Itani said. "Enjoy them, they grow fast."