Stream bank fencing
excludes cattle, horses and other farm animals from waterways so they don't
break down the soil banks and eliminate bodily waste into the water, keeping
waterways healthy. And stream bank fencing is an asset to several kinds of
wildlife because of the shelter and food they provide to those creatures,
particularly in summer.
When farmland brooks, streams and creeks are fenced in, farmers have a hard time mowing the vegetation growing between the fences and water. Some species of those plants grow tall, creating long, but lean, human-made wildlife habitats.
Where stream banks are high because of the eroding effect of the current over time and not crumbled under large hooves, belted kingfishers and rough-winged swallows dig nesting tunnels in those banks to raise young. The kingfishers catch banded killifish and other small fish while the swallows feed on flying insects in the surrounding farmland.
Reed canary-grass grows densely and up to ten feet high along many waterways in southeastern Pennsylvania. This grass of moist ground is a wonderful shelter for nesting red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, Canada geese and mallard ducks. Female red-wings build grassy cradles among the grasses above the ground or water. The song sparrows, mallards and Canadas, however, make nests on the ground at the base of thick growths of this grass.
Green-backed herons, great blue herons and black-crowned night herons hide in and move stealthily through that concealing tall grass as they stalk carp, bluegill sunfish and banded killifish in shallow water. Blue damselflies and a small variety of dragonflies perch on grass leaves hanging over the water to watch for insect prey and mates. Northern water snakes and snapping turtles hide among grasses fallen into the water so they can ambush fish. Bull frogs and green frogs hide at the base of the grass to escape the notice of the herons and raccoons. These frogs spawn in the slower parts of waterways, as well as in ponds. And muskrats hide among the grasses, eat them and use them to make nests for their babies in burrows they dig into the stream banks.
Multiflora rose and other kinds of shrubs, and a variety of young, riparian trees, including ash-leafed maples, silver maples, sycamores, black walnuts and others, provide cover for other kinds of creatures. Some of the birds that nest in streamside shrubbery include permanent resident song sparrows, northern cardinals and American goldfinches and summering gray catbirds, indigo buntings and common yellow-throated warblers. The goldfinches feed on weed and grass seeds, but the rest of these birds consume invertebrates.
As some of the trees get older and larger, other kinds of birds, including Baltimore orioles, orchard orioles, eastern kingbirds and cedar waxwings nest among the twigs of those trees. These birds ingest invertebrates, but in different niches and in different ways. The orioles eat invertebrates among the leaves and twigs of the trees while the kingbirds and waxwings catch insects in mid-air.
When farmland brooks, streams and creeks are fenced in, farmers have a hard time mowing the vegetation growing between the fences and water. Some species of those plants grow tall, creating long, but lean, human-made wildlife habitats.
Where stream banks are high because of the eroding effect of the current over time and not crumbled under large hooves, belted kingfishers and rough-winged swallows dig nesting tunnels in those banks to raise young. The kingfishers catch banded killifish and other small fish while the swallows feed on flying insects in the surrounding farmland.
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| That's a Red-winged Blackbird Nest in There? |
Reed canary-grass grows densely and up to ten feet high along many waterways in southeastern Pennsylvania. This grass of moist ground is a wonderful shelter for nesting red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, Canada geese and mallard ducks. Female red-wings build grassy cradles among the grasses above the ground or water. The song sparrows, mallards and Canadas, however, make nests on the ground at the base of thick growths of this grass.
Green-backed herons, great blue herons and black-crowned night herons hide in and move stealthily through that concealing tall grass as they stalk carp, bluegill sunfish and banded killifish in shallow water. Blue damselflies and a small variety of dragonflies perch on grass leaves hanging over the water to watch for insect prey and mates. Northern water snakes and snapping turtles hide among grasses fallen into the water so they can ambush fish. Bull frogs and green frogs hide at the base of the grass to escape the notice of the herons and raccoons. These frogs spawn in the slower parts of waterways, as well as in ponds. And muskrats hide among the grasses, eat them and use them to make nests for their babies in burrows they dig into the stream banks.
Multiflora rose and other kinds of shrubs, and a variety of young, riparian trees, including ash-leafed maples, silver maples, sycamores, black walnuts and others, provide cover for other kinds of creatures. Some of the birds that nest in streamside shrubbery include permanent resident song sparrows, northern cardinals and American goldfinches and summering gray catbirds, indigo buntings and common yellow-throated warblers. The goldfinches feed on weed and grass seeds, but the rest of these birds consume invertebrates.
As some of the trees get older and larger, other kinds of birds, including Baltimore orioles, orchard orioles, eastern kingbirds and cedar waxwings nest among the twigs of those trees. These birds ingest invertebrates, but in different niches and in different ways. The orioles eat invertebrates among the leaves and twigs of the trees while the kingbirds and waxwings catch insects in mid-air.
Some farmers erect wood duck and eastern bluebird nest boxes on the trees and fence posts of stream bank fencing to entice wood ducks, that are attracted to waterways in woods, and bluebirds to those habitats for nesting. And natural cavities form in those trees from wind ripping the limbs off, the weight of ice or snow breaking them, or downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers — which is another kind of woodpecker, chipping out nesting hollows in dead branches. Wood ducks, and a few pairs of bluebirds nest in those nest boxes and tree cavities, but pairs of tree swallows do as well. In fact, little gangs of tree swallows sometimes chase out a lone pair of bluebirds and use the bluebird house themselves for rearing offspring.
Young woodies eat invertebrates while their mothers feed on seeds and other vegetation. The bluebirds and tree swallows ingest invertebrates, the bluebirds from the plants and the swallows in the air.
Stream bank fencing is a blessing to a variety of wildlife. It gives them more sheltered living space which bolsters their populations. And the vegetation and wildlife using it make stream bank fencing enjoyable to us.
Nest of Red-Winged Blackbird, Sand Hill Road dsc_0196 by putneypics
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