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contributed by Mike Busam
Gilmore Ponds is a 200-acre wetland nestled in the midst of an industrial park within the city
limits of Hamilton, Ohio. Recently added to Ohio's "Watchable Wildlife" list, Gilmore Ponds is
bordered by two tributaries, Walker's Run to the east, and the historic Miami-Erie Canal to
the north. There is one permanent body of water, Old Ice Pond, which is just that--an old ice
pond used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to provide ice for use in Cincinnati-area
breweries--and three larger ponds that flood seasonally and provide the best habitat for
breeding and migrating waterfowl, shorebirds and long-legged waders such as Great Egrets,
Black Crowned Night Herons, Green Herons and Great Blue Herons.
Numbers are greatest in the spring and fall during migration, but if the spring
is wet enough Gilmore Ponds is sure to be host to a number of wetland birds, some of which even
breed there from time to time. Among the usual visitors and sometime-breeders are Pied-billed
Grebe, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Green Heron, Black Crowned Night Heron,
Least Bittern, Prothonotary Warbler, and Willow Flycatcher.
Rusty Blackbirds are often seen in season, while a walk along the Symmes Road dike in late February
and early March evenings is almost guaranteed to offer an excellent opportunity for observing the
aerial courtship flights of Woodcock.
To reach Gilmore Ponds, take the Route Four Bypass to Symmes Road. If you are traveling north on
the bypass, turn left onto Symmes; if traveling South, turn right. There is limited parking off of
Symmes Road across from the entrance to Beck Boulevard, but this could disappear anytime now when the city
of Hamilton widens Symmes Road. Therefore, you are better off continuing west on Symmes Road until
you reach Gilmore Road, the first intersection. There is a National Guard building on the right
side of the road. Turn right onto Gilmore Road and travel about a quarter mile. Look for a park
sign and a paved parking lot on the right side of the road. You can't miss it.
There are three loop trails for hiking at Gilmore Ponds, as well as an observation tower and
two raised decks that provide good vantage points in any season, but particularly when water conditions
are good. Beware, though, that if the water is up, portions of the trails are inaccessible, to
say the least!
For more information, check the
Gilmore Ponds Conservancy home page.
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Posted by Mike Busam on March 20, 2006:
The Gilmore Ponds Conservancy is defunct and the website has gone the way of the dodo. You can still visit the preserve, though. Additional information can be found on the Ohio Ornithological Society's site guide:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/birdingsites/showsite.php?Site_ID=30
Posted by Carlton Schooley on January 30, 2006:
Actually the web link to Gilmore Ponds Conservancy that's broken is www.gilmore.pond.org
But neither URL is valid...
Posted by Carlton Schooley on January 30, 2006:
I can't add anything about Gilmore Ponds, but I did try the link to the Gilmore Ponds Conservancy website (www.gilmore.ponds.org) and that link doesn't work...
Carlton
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