The return of piping plovers to Waukegan Beach, a rare feathered friends known as Pepper, the piping plover and his mate, Blaze, indicates a new chapter in the city's environmental stewardship. The pair have been returning to the city’s Lake Michigan strand since 2023 and have hatched at least six chicks. The city partners with the Lake County Audubon Society and other nature advocates to protect and preserve the habitats of the plovers, which they rely on during long journeys along the Lake Michigan flyway. The return of these birds is seen as a powerful testament to what environmental stewardships can achieve through environmental stewardsmanship. The official city bird has been named since 2024 and is part of a seven-year partnership between the city and the Lake county Audubonian Society to protect the lakefront's habitat of dunes, wetlands and prairies while supporting endangered species recovery.