April 2025, western Montana, USA. Sounds of spring in the forest… 

A male Williamson’s sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus) taps on a shrubby juniper trunk as the evening light fades. He flies to a wood fencepost along the gravel road that climbs west into the forest, drums hesitantly.

It’s breeding season for owls. Later that same night, I’m cooking dinner over my tiny camp stove when a northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) begins singing. I drop dinner and grab my microphone.

This is a podcast about birds, nature, and local food. It follows the thread of last month’s episode, A familiar voice a long way from home, with more experiences of local food from the United States to Mexico, from a northern saw-whet owl among the Douglas-firs to the leafcutter ants eating my garden. As always, the voices of the birds accompany us throughout the story.

I depend on the support of you, 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/2026/06/01/the-owl-and-the-leafcutter-ants/