Connecting with Mauritanian immigrants from Lockland
Canoes and Conversation 2023
Watch the Canoes & Conversation Program
(under the tent)
from June 17th, 2023
On June 17, 2023, Mill Creek Alliance gathered local leaders and community members to consider the opportunities and economic benefits of the Mill Creek as a regional asset. Guests participated in activities including, biking, hiking, paddling, and dam tours before gathering under the tent for lunch and to hear from stakeholders.
Wildlife, at the Fringe
(VDV/Shutterstock.com)
A heron rookery, aflutter with Great Blue Herons, has been spotted along the Mill Creek near IKEA West Chester in Butler County, OH!
What is a rookery, you say? It is a location where more than a pair of birds nest in a group. The number of nests, birds, and bird species can vary. The rookery is easily observed looking SW from the back of the IKEA building near the edge of the parking lot, across the retention pond to the opposite side.
This is an encouraging development at the Mill Creek. The retention basin (highlighted by the green line in the map) sits in the Upper Mill Creek Watershed, where there has been a large, human-population increase over the past four decades. Land uses surrounding the basin are, primarily, commercial and light industrial. At the SW border of the pond, an edge of towering trees line the banks, offsetting a lack of tall canopy heights and foliage. The duration of this intact section of habitat is, most likely, a contributing factor to encouraging a thriving ecosystem of wildlife.
Protecting the herons. Birders have documented (using iNaturalist app) the presence of the Great Blue Heron at this location since 2017. There are 64 species of heron in the family Ardeidae. They prefer to live near water and feed on edges of marshes, lakes, and ponds. The environment of the rookery at the IKEA retention pond includes a newly planted tree buffer behind the building, the strand of tall trees on the banks of the Mill Creek, an isolated location off the beaten path, and plenty of fish; perfect for this siege of birds.
Want to take ACTION in wildlife conservation in the Mill Creek Watershed?
Cincinnati Parks & Great Parks created a local Cincinnati/Hamilton County team for City Nature Challenge 2021, a collaborative competition between cities across the world. There is nature all around us, even in our cities! Knowing what species are in our city and where they are helps us study and protect them, but the ONLY way to do that is by all of us – scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the nature in our area. By participating in the City Nature Challenge, from April 30 through May 3, not only do you learn more about your local nature, but you can also make your city a better place – for you and other species!
The City Nature Challenge, a bioblitz-style event, bouts cities against each other in healthy competition, to see who can:
● make the most observations of nature
● who can find the most species, and
● who can engage the most people.
The event utilizes the free iNaturalist platform (web and app) to record environmental data. In addition to City Nature Challenge 2021, participants can log photos of plants and animals they see in the Mill Creek Watershed to iNaturalist, throughout 2021. The information collected will be helpful in community programming and education, controlling invasive species, and prioritizing natural areas in need of further preservation efforts.
Your participation could make a difference!
To Get Involved:
Download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone (or take pictures with your camera and upload them later to the iNaturalist website)
Go outside! (with your phone charged and your spirit ready)
Species documented in the Mill Creek Watershed during the City Nature Challenge will automatically be added to the Cincinnati Hamilton County Project and the MCA 2021 Bioblitz. If you like, become a member of the two open projects in the iNaturalist app:
Teach a Child to Fish...
There was a time, not too long ago, when a father would hesitate to teach his child to fish on the Mill Creek. Thirty years ago the water would have been too polluted to fish in and besides, there was not much life in the stream. Years of industrial degradation and misuse of the creek created a habitat that was, well, uninhabitable!
But today, a father can take his child to the creek and teach him to fish. Together they will find plenty of large mouth bass, hybrid striped bass, fresh water drum, bluegill, pumpkinseed sunfish, catfish, and carp.
Its also possible that on the Mill Creek, they might find turtles, beaver, osprey and great blue herons.
This summer, we checked in with Andy Suthoff, a Maketewah Angler who said, “I've seen more smallmouth bass this year in the Mill Creek than in past seasons. Smallmouth are a key indicator fish for water quality, so it's reassuring to see this species present in the urban waterway.”
Recently, Andy made an unexpected catch on the Mill Creek. “Today I caught a "new" species on my lunch break and named it the Mill Creek Walleye. I don't think we've officially documented walleye in the creek yet. What this fish lacks in size, it makes up for in novelty. “
As the creek has gotten cleaner and more of the low head dams have been removed, the stream habitat has gotten healthier and more and more species are returning. Ultimately, we hope the Mill Creek will be clean enough so you can catch your fish and eat it too*!
(*For now, the water is not quite clean enough to eat the fish caught in the creek. Patience!)
Canoes and Conversation on the Mill Creek
On June 22, elected officials and the public gathered to learn about the Mill Creek and Triangle Trail initiative. Thirty-one adventuresome souls paddled from Twin Creek Preserve to Evendale Commons with the Mill Creek Yacht Club, followed by lunch and presentations.
Check out this article that Fox 19 published about the event!
The First Ever Mill Creek BioBlitz!
Thank you to everyone who made the first ever BioBlitz on the Mill Creek a great success! We cataloged over 100 different aquatic and terrestrial species, including macroinvertebrate indicators of good water quality like crayfish and caddisflies. This whole event would not have been possible without our amazing partners at Midwest Biodiversity Institute, Patagonia, Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District, Mill Creek Yacht Club, Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters, Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Nature Conservancy in Ohio, US Fish and Wildlife, Cincinnati Museum Center and many more! If you would like to see all the different species we found, please check out iNaturalist.org (under projects search for, "BioBlitz on the Mill Creek") as we used this awesome app (as well as pen and paper, those results will follow shortly) to log all of our findings! It was truly reaffirming to all the work we do to see the communities surrounding Mill Creek interacting with all the life blossoming on its banks! Thank you again!
Mill Creek Yacht Club and Volunteers Restore Mill Creek Streambank!
The Mill Creek Yacht club led a group of volunteers on a live staking restoration outing along the creek in Sharonville, Evendale, and Reading this weekend!
A group of 23 volunteers gathered Saturday morning at Twin Creek Preserve, including an awesome group of GE Aviation young professionals! Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District's Stream Specialist, Adam Lehman, provided the tools and live stakes and taught the group about the technique of using willow tree live stakes, which root readily in the moist streambank, to prevent erosion Tom Boeing of Ohio Valley Forestry Fellowship brought along bare root trees and demonstrated the planting technique.
Then the group split up, some working on planting at Twin Creek preserve, and some venturing down the creek via canoe, taking out at various locations, including Evendale Commons, to pound in the live stakes and plant bare root trees and wildflowers. The group had worked up a serious appetite by the time they took out at Koenig Park around 4pm so some fueled up at the The Pike Bar and Grill (also a supporter of Mill Creek Alliance!).
Thank you to all partners and volunteers who came out to help restore the Mill Creek's streambank!! We're excited to monitor these plantings in years to come!
The Mill Creek Yacht Club is supported by REI.
