There are actually a few subtle differences between the terms gravel pit, borrow pit and quarry. A gravel pit implies a tract of land, most often lying along a river or stream, which has been excavated for the purpose of extracting, or "mining", gravel. A quarry on the other hand implies a site dedicated to the extraction of larger rock, such as granite, limestone or slate. These open pits are generally steeper sided than gravel pits and if I understand correctly, waters in them are often shallow. A borrow pit describes an area where soil or other material has been excavated, or "borrowed" for use at another site. These types of pits become filled with water, forming small lakes and can be commonly seen along expressways where the soil was used in the construction of the highway or to create nearby embankments for exit ramps. In southwestern Ohio, especially along the Little Miami and Great Miami Rivers, gravel pits predominate and there are literally hundreds of them, both active and inactive. Most of them hold water, but a few are dry.
Gravel pits, borrow pits and quarries are all well known to most Ohio birders and for good reason. These man-made lakes can be magnets for migrating and resident waterfowl and waterbirds. In some cases, the sparse and scrubby herbaceous vegetation that grows in the loose sandy and rocky soils around these pits attracts a variety of other interesting species as well. For instance, Blue Grosbeaks have had an affinity with gravel pits here in southwestern Ohio for at least the past twenty-five years. Any of these sites may attract birds and should be checked often.
Jay Stenger
Cincinnati, Ohio
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|
