The Great Lakes population of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus) was at a perilously low level. But intensive conservation efforts have seen the number of breeding pairs steadily climb from a low of 12 in 1983 to 66 currently. This fledgling was pulled from the wild as an abandoned egg and raised to be released into the wild in time to migrate south for the winter and hopefully return to breed. The project is an example of different agencies and organizations working together to benefit a species in peril.