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Season Watch
Available Thursdays.
Hosted by Charlie Mitchell
,
Heidi Holtan
,
John Latimer

"Season Watch" is a KAXE podcast for the curious, filled with the delights of nature in Northern Minnesota. Hosts are Charlie Mitchell, Heidi Holtan, John Latimer and a rotating cast of characters, often featuring voices of young nature observers from around the state. From owl calls to sleeping bears and freezing frogs, we want hear from you! Record a message and send us what you are seeing in nature!

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Latest Episodes
  • A tiny frog, held carefully by a person, has inflated its throat sac to call.
    Can you hear the peepers sing?
    Co-hosts Andrew Dziengel and Charlie Mitchell focus on frog and toad calls in this edition of the Season Watch Pod.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • At least seven yellow-and-black striped garter snakes are intertwined together on the corner of a patch of asphalt. Their heads are facing in similar directions.
    Sneaky snakey: How a sleepy serpent warms up for his springtime ball
    Co-hosts Heidi Holtan and Charlie Mitchell wonder at the mating habits of garter snakes, discuss the overwintering habits of butterflies, and look forward to spring's advance.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • Large white chunks of ice, which have been rounded by constantly bumping into each other, float on clear water near a stony lake shore.
    Have you spotted the spring's first butterfly yet?
    Co-hosts Heidi Holtan and Charlie Mitchell enthuse about spring's arrival, enjoy a poem from a listener, and inadvertently create a love letter to KAXE.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • A Black-capped Chickadee drinks sweet sap from an icicle hanging from a maple tree in Finland on March 21, 2024.
    Nice-icles: Maples and boxelders provide a frozen sweet treat
    In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heather Johnson discuss how ants and plants help each other, the joys of gardening, and nature's popsicles.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • A graphic represents the different hearing types of fall and spring chickadees. The fall chickadee is attuned to fine-scale variations in song, while the spring chickadee is better able to distinguish pitches.
    Why birds' ears change with the seasons
    In this episode, hosts Charlie Mitchell and Chelsey Perkins revisit dinosaur songs and discuss inadvertent scientific discoveries. Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe! Charlie recommends the book "An Immense World" by Ed Yong.
  • A large, long-necked bird with a reddish-brown back, a grey neck, a red cap, and orange eyes stands among cattails.
    What did dinosaur songs sound like?
    In this episode, co-hosts Malachy Koons and Charlie Mitchell anticipate the migratory marvels of March and discuss the sounds of dinosaurs.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • A bird with a brown back, white chest, yellow throat, and strong black-and-white facial markings stands in a snowy area. It has two small black tufts of feathers on each side of its head.
    Going on a lark on Valentine's Day
    In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan discuss Horned Larks and anthocyanins (new vocabulary word!).Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • An American Kestrel flies with a snake in its talons in St. Louis County on May 11, 2022.
    Questing for kestrels, gabbing about grouse
    In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan learn about leks and look forward to the return of American kestrels.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!Check out the mating dance of the Prairie Chicken (as photographed by KAXE photographer Lorie Shaull) here, or the Sharp-tailed Grouse here.
  • A banded Saw-whet Owl stares at its captor in Victoria during Nov. 2020
    I spy with my little eye: The joy of staking out nature's neighbors
    In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan wonder at dragon's teeth, discuss the pronunciation of 'coyote,' and delight in the tiny Saw-whet Owl.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!
  • A small grey shrew with long whiskers and an extended snout perches on a small rock in a stream.
    Minnesota's much-maligned shrews hide evolutionary superpowers
    In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan delight in a report from Northfield and discuss critter superpowers.Send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!