Find Firebird Drive, running north off of Union Center Boulevard between OH-4 and OH-747. At the end of it (past the bike trail crossing) is a little circle where you can park. Depending on what’s been mowed, you can walk down the trail to see one pond. The others are beyond the circle. If birding takes you along the bike path to the west, consider recording sightings under the Miami-Erie Canal Bike Path--Between Gilmore Park and Ellis Lake Wetlands hotspot.

This is a project that was designed specifically to improve water quality in Mill Creek, reduce flooding, provide aquatic and terrestrial habitat, and passive recreation. The project was sponsored by Schumacher Dugan, West Chester Township Parks, and the Mill Creek Restoration Project (now known as the Mill Creek Alliance). The funding came from Clean Ohio. The project was identified, designed, and monitored by MACTEC (now Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions) and Human Nature. The trail was always intended to be a loop, but the Township withdrew support for the project shortly after completion and a bridge was never installed. Clearly, the terrestrial habitat and recreational portion of the project has been a success as testified by the other reviews. This project is intended as an example of a riparian corridor restoration with hopes that it would extend further up and down Mill Creek to create a recreation corridor.

The private agricultural fields on the western side of this hotspot known for visiting shorebirds when fields flooded, has been developed and the habitat is mostly gone (reported on September 26, 2023). It had greatly reduced the numbers of birds seen here. (February 2024)