Greetings... Bob Lacker, Charlie Saunders and I birded Gilmore Ponds for a
little while this morning. Charlie found a lesser yellowlegs, which is a bit
on the early side, in a shallow pool just north of Gilmore Ponds, along with
sixteen killdeer, twenty or so mallards, a couple gadwall and a pair of
northern pintails. The yellowlegs was foraging and running around the entire
time we were there.

In a larger, and deeper pool also on the north side of Gilmore Ponds were
50+ ring-necked ducks, 5 redheads, 2 green-winged teal, 2 hooded mergansers,
6 black ducks, 50+ mallards, 6+ wigeon, 10 pintail, 100+ Canada geese, 10+
gadwall.

These two pool areas have held water for much of the past year, and
routinely flood in season. They are in the area north of the railroad tracks
that the "old timers" knew as Gilmore Ponds back in the 1940s and 1950s--a
time during which the area we know today as Gilmore Ponds was entirely
farmland and even had a couple houses on the site. Butler County plans to
extend Bobmeyer Road west to Bypass Four right through this area between
Gilmore Ponds and the Butler County Regional Airport. It'll be interesting
to see what they do with these fairly extensive wetlands and where all that
water goes when it rains and the area streams start flowing.

Inside Gilmore Ponds, proper, were another 100+ mallards, 2+ wood ducks, and
twelve or so northern shovelers.

I led a field trip along the Great Miami River in Hamilton, Saturday. The
wigeon and killdeer, etc., near the Hamiltonian Hotel, were pretty much
right where Jim Michael left them on the 18th. I'm not sure what all the
reasons are, but it's been slow along this stretch as far as waterfowl go
this winter. Sam Fitton told me he's made at least eight trips along the
Great Miami through Hamilton this winter and has seen next to nothing in
comparison with the past couple of winters.

Bob Lacker said six or seven woodcock were displaying at dusk this morning
at the VOA near the Buddhist Peace Tree Grove at the parking lot just off
Cox Road. The VOA is a pretty good spot for woodcock in the spring--nice for
yipping and yapping coyotes, too! I flushed a woodcock late last summer on a
trail at the VOA, but I don't know if they breed there. Anyway, I'm jealous
of all you folks who have been able to see and hear woodcock this spring ;-)

Take care,
---Mike Busam
West Chester, OH