4:49 a.m. It’s time to start counting birds. This is my seventh year doing this Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) route, one of over 4000 routes across the United States and Canada that volunteers like me survey one morning each summer. For many North American breeding birds, the BBS is our best stab at tracking how their populations are changing from year to year.

Montana birder Harriet Marble started this BBS route in 1979 and surveyed it annually for the next 37 years. Each June I think of her as I follow in her footsteps.

Everything is ready now. My notebook is out, the frequent stops sign taped to the back window of my car. As the horned larks tinkle and the prairie tries to seep in at the edges of the wheat, I set my 3-minute timer. Go!

This month’s story is about my BBS route among the wheatfields of Chouteau County, Montana: a story of industrial agriculture, prairie bird declines, and all of the life that continues to persist in the face of it all. Many thanks to Harriet Marble for sharing her experiences of many decades on this route.

This podcast features the voices of a variety of prairie birds that I recorded: horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), thick-billed longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), gray partridge (Perdix perdix), chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus), lark bunting (Calamospiza melodia), Franklin’s gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan) and black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus).

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/2025/07/01/wheat-industrial-agriculture-declining-birds/

Ya son las 4:49 a.m. Es hora de contar aves. Es mi séptimo año de hacer esta ruta del Conteo de Aves en Reproducción, una de más de 4000 rutas a lo largo de Estados Unidos y Canadá que hacen voluntarios como yo una mañana cada verano. Para muchas especies de aves que se reproducen en Norteamérica, este Conteo es nuestra mejor herramienta para observar cambios en sus poblaciones año tras año.

La pajarera montanense Harriet Marble empezó esta ruta del Conteo en 1979 y la hizo anualmente durante los siguientes 37 años. Cada junio pienso en ella mientras sigo sus pasos.

Ya tengo todo listo. Tengo mi cuaderno en la mano, el letrero del Conteo está pegado al parte trasera de mi carro. Mientras las alondras cornudas tintinean y la pradera trata de entrar en los bordes del trigo, pongo un alarma para tres minutos. ¡Ya!

Esta historia se trata de mi ruta del Conteo de Aves en Reproducción entre los campos de trigo del Condado de Chouteau, Montana, EU: una historia de la agricultura industrial, declives de las aves de la pradera y toda la vida que sigue persistiendo frente a todo. Muchas gracias a Harriet Marble por compartir sus experiencias de muchas décadas en esta ruta.

Este podcast destaca las voces de varias aves de la pradera que grabé yo: alondra cornuda (Eremophila alpestris), escribano pico grueso (Rhynchophanes mccownii), tordo sargento (Agelaius phoeniceus), perdiz pardilla (Perdix perdix), escribano collar castaño (Calcarius ornatus), gorrión alas blancas (Calamospiza melanocorys), gaviota de Franklin (Leucophaeus pipixcan) y monjita americana (Himantopus mexicanus).

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 muchas fotos del campo: https://wildwithnature.com/2025/07/01/trigo-industrial-aves-en-declive/

This story is the third and final in a series about pileated woodpeckers—a series that touches the earth of Oaxaca, Mexico, that invites us to immerse ourselves in a cottonwood forest in Montana, USA, that expands to touch on global themes like reciprocity and our human relationship with nature.

This episode includes a passage by the writer Osprey Oreille Lake about reciprocity and gift economies from her book The Story is In Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis. Thanks to Osprey for giving me permission to quote her words. As always, I’ve also included various natural sound recordings that I made, among them: western wood-pewee (Contopus sordidulus) songs, pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) calls and drumming, songs of a Wilson’s warbler (Cardellina pusilla) and a yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia), the call of a Cassin’s kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans), the wind through the tall dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), the song of a Middle American screech-owl (Megascops guatemalae), songs of boreal chorus frogs (Pseudacris maculata), and a singing western screech-owl (Megascops kennicottii).

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/2025/06/01/pileated-woodpeckers-and-reciprocity/