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| The ditch on the side of our rural road provides habitat for thousands of insects and caterpillars that our birds need for feeding their babies. by Grandma Pearl |
Have you ever thought about ditches as anything more than a
place by the side of the road? There are
hundreds of thousands of miles of ditches in the U.S. And they provide essential habitat for many
different kinds of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and birds.
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| Black-capped Chickadee found a juicy spider to feed her growing nestlings. by Grandma Pearl |
So
many songbirds and game birds rely on the ditch environment. It’s a rich source of protein in the form of
insects and invertebrates; but it is also a water filtration system. Rainfall that accumulates
in a ditch percolates into the soil and is absorbed and filtered by the reeds
and native grasses.
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| Male Northern Cardinal foraging in the roadside ditch area. by Grandma Pearl |
People
as a society don’t seem to appreciate the ‘messiness’ of natural habitats. Ditches definitely fall in to the ‘messy’
category with the tall reeds, sedges and slimy denizens lurking therein. Snails, mollusks, dragonflies, damsel flies, skimmers, and yes, mosquitoes do inhabit these freshwater areas.
There's lots more to ditches that just places alongside the road. Please read my latest article entitled "Keep it Between the Ditches" ,for much more information on the biodiversity of this habitat.
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| We always called these insects Dragonflies. by Grandma Pearl |
Grandma Pearl
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