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Season Watch

Going on a lark on Valentine's Day

By Heidi Holtan,
Charlie Mitchell
Published February 27, 2026 at 2:57 PM CST
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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.
Contributed
/
Lorie Shaull via Flickr
A Horned Lark stands in an open area in Prescott, WI on April 12, 2020.

In this episode, co-hosts Charlie Mitchell and Heidi Holtan discuss Horned Larks and anthocyanins (new vocabulary word!).

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New Valentine's Day tradition just dropped! Go looking for larks on Valentine's Day; you might spot friend of KAXE (and retired non-game wildlife biologist) Pam Perry out there too.

Co-hosts Heidi Holtan (director of public affairs, woodpecker appreciator) and Charlie Mitchell (phenology coordinator, woodpecker enthusiast) enjoy a new science word (anthocyanin), wonder at the song of the lark, and discuss the car-alarm songs of cardinals.

Attributions

  • Recording of Horned Lark by Michael Hurben, XC856437. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/856437.
  • Recording of Northern Cardinal by Chuck Amos, XC321934. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/321934.
  • John Latimer's phenology report, Little Falls Middle School phenology report, and the interview with Pam Perry originally aired on KAXE.

Love the podcast? Impressed that Charlie didn't make a single "horny lark" joke during the podcast? Let us know! Email us at seasonwatch@kaxe.org.

You can also send us a voice memo through Speak Pipe!

Tags
Season Watch KAXENorthern MinnesotaPhenologywinter phenology
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Heidi Holtan
Heidi Holtan has been involved with KAXE since 2002. Now as Director of Content and Public Affairs she manages and is the host of the KAXE Morning Show, including a variety of local content like Phenology, What's for Breakfast, Area Voices, The Sports Page and much more, alongside Morning Edition from NPR. Her latest project is Ham Radio: Cooking with Amy Thielen.
See stories by Heidi Holtan
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.


With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
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