BUTTE — Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places, like a pond located next to Interstate 90 in Butte. It’s one of the many urban wetlands that researchers at Montana Technological University are calling little gems for studying migratory birds in Southwest Montana. These ponds have also helped a Tech student find his passion for birding through the Berkeley Pit Waterfowl Protection Program.
"My job, or our job, in the area is to give the people at the Pit an idea of what kind of species are in the area since they use a species-based hazing program up there," says Shawn Moorman, a recent graduate of Montana Tech.
Moorman is currently training other Tech students to help Montana Resources spot migratory birds that might land on the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit. The mine uses a series of hazing techniques specific to the species to scare birds off.
Students involved in the program are an extra set of eyes for the Montana Resources team who work to keep birds off the toxic waters, but for Doctor Stella Capoccia, a professor at Tech and program leader, the work being done by her team also raises the importance of urban wetlands in a society that views these areas as ugly and useless.
"We have a lot of words for urban wetlands that are less desirable—'bogs,' 'swamps,' 'mucky areas'—and when you stop and look at the diversity that you have in these areas, you realize how important they are. And so looking at an urban wetland for its reproductive purposes shows you how a lot of these species really rely on these little isolated water islands to be able to have their babies and raise them and contribute to the production of the species," says Doctor Capoccia.
As she speaks a baby bird with a bright red head and black body pops up just offshore and Dr. Capoccia pulls her binoculars to her eyes.
"Let’s take a look and see what it is and there might be a Coot... and, oh! There’s a baby Coot! Oh my goodness!"
Moorman and Dr. Capoccia debate over the amount of cuteness of the baby American Coot that does not resemble the adult's pure white beak and black body. Moorman says the baby looks like a rooster, calling it the ugliest of the babies on the pond but Capoccia disagrees, calling the baby "beautiful."
For Doctor Capoccia and her team, the tiny urban wetland pond located just feet from the cacophony of interstate traffic is a world of research opportunities. And Moorman says the pond provides something else for the researchers and the public alike: a positive space for humans to connect with a little island of nature within the city.
"When you’re here at sunrise, or you’re out on the other ponds at sunrise, I don’t know, I get a peace from it—a sense of peace, clarity. You get to watch all these different animals kind of going about their daily routines and it’s a form of meditation, I think," Moorman said.
