Wild With Nature – Details, episodes & analysis

The hot March winds buffet the jet as we thunder skyward, shattering the quiet of the dry tropical forest below and spewing hot gases of ancient sea life. I crane my head and say a silent goodbye to the Huatulco landscape that has become a second home to me. We’ve already rocketed higher than the Cerro Huatulco; the dry course of the Arroyo Todos Santos slips by in an instant and then we’re banking towards the coast, a wide wide turn over the tierra natal of my partner and generations of her family. Goodbye for now, my loved ones, que Dios los cuide. 

This story is a journey through the personal and the geopolitical in this critical time: a journey that seeks, as always, to strengthen our connection with the earth. Through bittersweet goodbyes, a tense international border crossing, and an unstable political landscape, this is my personal story of finding a positive way forward. It’s a journey towards the pileated woodpeckers, marking the beginning of this uncertain spring by immersing us in a cottonwood gallery forest where the woodpeckers are excavating their nest. I hope that you find something meaningful in it as you listen, just as I did as I was producing it.

As usual, I’ve included lots of natural sounds that I recorded: a song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) serenading the spring, the pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) calling and excavating, a northern flicker (Colaptes auratus), a red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), a flock of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). And the distinctly not-so-natural sound of a jet taking off.

As always, I depend on the support of my listeners to continue doing this work. Please share these podcasts, leave a rating, and, if you’re able, support me through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildwithnature. Thank you!!!

You can find the written, illustrated version of this story here: https://wildwithnature.com/2025/04/01/journey-to-the-pileated-woodpeckers/

Los vientos calurosos de marzo golpean el avión mientras subimos hacia el cielo, rompiendo la tranquilidad de la selva baja caducifolia por abajo y emitiendo gases calientes de la combustión de organismos marinos ancianos. Mirando hacia afuera, le digo un adiós silente a la tierra huatulqueña que se ha vuelto un segundo hogar para mí. Ya hemos ascendido más arriba del Cerro Huatulco; el lecho seco del Arroyo Todos Santos pasa en un instante y entonces estamos girando hacia la costa, un giro amplio sobre la tierra natal de mi pareja y generaciones de su familia. Adiós por ahora, mis seres queridos, que Dios los cuide. 

Esta historia es un viaje por lo personal y lo geopolítico en este tiempo crítico: un viaje que busca, como siempre, fortalecer nuestra conexión con la tierra. A través de un adiós difícil, cruzar la frontera en un momento tenso y un paisaje político bastante inestable, ésta es mi historia personal de buscar un camino positivo hacia adelante. Es un viaje hacia los picamaderos norteamericanos, sumergiéndonos en un bosque de galería de álamos donde los picamaderos están excavando su nido para marcar el comienzo de esta primavera incierta. Espero que encuentres algo importante mientras la escuches, tanto como yo encontré algo importante en producirla.

Como siempre, he incluido muchos sonidos naturales que grabé: un gorrión cantor (Melospiza melodia) celebrando la primavera, los picamaderos norteamericanos (Dryocopus pileatus) llamando y excavando su nido, un carpintero de pechera común (Colaptes auratus), un carpintero nuca roja (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), una parvada de golondrinas bicolores (Tachycineta bicolor). Y el sonido no tan natural de un avión durante el despegue. 

Como siempre, dependo del apoyo de mis oyentes para seguir con este proyecto. Favor de compartir estos podcasts, dejarme un rating y (si puedes) hacerme una cooperación a través de Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildwithnature. Muchísimas gracias!!!

Puedes encontrar la versión escrita con la historia aquí, con mis fotos del campo: https://wildwithnature.com/2025/04/01/viaje-hacia-picamaderos-norteamericanos/

Immerse yourself in a quiet forest of western redcedar on a morning in late May, as varied thrushes (Ixoreus naevius) and Townsend’s warblers (Setophaga townsendi) sing and a Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus) builds a well-hidden nest. This contemplative story invites you to pause in the stillness, to listen in the spaces between sounds. Through the song of the Pacific wren, it also connects with September 2023’s episode, Getting to know Washington’s spiders.

I recorded birdsong for this story, including the species already mentioned as well as western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), in the Ross Creek Cedars of northwestern Montana in May of 2024. To accompany this podcast, I’ve also created a 10-hour track of varied thrush and Townsend’s warbler song for sleep and relaxation. You can find that track and many others under Immersed In Nature wherever you find your podcasts—enjoy!

I depend on the support of my listeners to continue doing this work. Please share these podcasts, leave a rating, and, if you’re able, support me through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildwithnature. Thank you!!!
You can find the written, illustrated version of this story here: https://wildwithnature.com/2024/11/01/stillness-redcedars-pacific-wren/

Kate Wilburn's urban Missoula, Montana yard is an oasis of native plants and fruit trees in the middle of the city. Is this yard providing habitat for a diversity of insects, as we would hope? In this episode, I focus on the insects visiting five late-summer flowers in this yard: purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), Rocky Mountain beeplant (Cleome serrulata), Missouri goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis), and Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani).

This episode is an in-depth look at a stream restoration project and the birds that this habitat supports in early August. From eastern kingbirds and a Cooper's hawk to a bobolink and a peregrine falcon, it's a story of bird diversity and behavior as the breeding season transitions into early fall migration. This episode also includes the songs or calls of 12 common bird species from this day: eastern kingbird, western meadowlark, sandhill crane, Bullock's oriole, Savannah sparrow, red-winged blackbird, common yellowthroat, house sparrow, horned lark, gray catbird, American goldfinch, and yellow warbler.

Mentzelia decapetala, ten-petal blazingstar, is a mysterious plant. Covered in barbed hairs, it impales small, soft-bodied insects, holding them until they die. But for bumblebees, sphinx moths, and at least one syrphid fly, this plant's evening-blooming flowers are a luminous resource at sunset. This episode is a deep dive into the world of Helena, Montana's Mentzelia patches.

This episode is a mid-summer dive into Helena, Montana's bumblebees and the flowers that they favor. During this day of bumblebee observation, we caught 35 bumblebees, identified 6 species, and found some interesting patterns about the flowers that attracted each bumblebee.

In western Montana, monarch butterflies seem rare. But where there are patches of showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), it's still possible to get up-close with these endangered butterflies. I spent a late July morning looking closely at a large patch of showy milkweed in the Helena Valley. And I found monarchs! I also looked at this plant's weird pollination system, the hazards these flowers can pose for honeybees, and a few of the other specialized insects that inhabit our milkweed patches.

In July 2022, I spent a morning immersed in the life of a big sagebrush shrubland (Artemisia tridentata) near Silver City, Montana. This episode features the songs of vesper sparrows, Brewer's sparrows, and sage thrashers. A white-tailed jackrabbit shows up briefly. There are ladybugs of three species, spittlebugs, and investigations into the connections between these invertebrates and the sagebrush birds. So give it a listen - and then, next summer, I encourage you to spend a morning in the sagebrush, too! When the sun is rising and the Brewer's sparrows are singing, it's a magical place.

At Spokane Bay, near Helena, Montana, fall songbird migration is beginning. Yellow-rumped warblers and Wilson's warblers are passing through, stocking up on insects. Many summer birds are still here: the last yellow warblers still sing occasionally, and the sandhill cranes are foraging in the marsh. Meanwhile, I spotted a small flock of pinyon jays on the hillside - the first sighting of these interesting birds at this spot in the last 22 years!