Birding & Wildlife

This IBA is 200 acres of primarily wetlands with associated former agricultural and disturbed field areas. It lies within the urban boundaries of the City of Hamilton, in the midst of an industrial park. On 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. It is a rare area for wetland breeding species in southwestern Ohio, along with Miami Whitewater and Spring Valley.

This IBA is approximately 525 acres surrounded by development that has sprung up since the late 1990s when the block of land was decommissioned as one of the U.S. government Voice of America radio broadcasting relay stations. The majority of the Voice of America IBA is comprised of acreage now owned and managed by two separate but contiguous entities: West Chester Township owns the smaller southern portion and Butler County MetroParks owns the larger northern portion and calls their section Voice of America Park. The entire area is of mixed use. It includes grassland of cool-season/forage grasses, one 2.5- acre wooded wetland, one 30-acre artificial lake on the north edge, an enhanced pond and wetland near the south boundary, and numerous public areas developed for various recreational pursuits. The core grassland area was originally approximately 350 acres in size, though year-to-year changes in mowing and management practices have reduced the amount of viable grassland habitat to as little as ~100 acres during some years.