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Science and Nature

KAXE Morning Show

Phenology Talkbacks: Why do puffball mushrooms puff?

By Charlie Mitchell

Published April 10, 2024 at 12:21 PM CDT

Three puffball mushrooms grow on a downed long in St. Louis County on Sept. 27, 2014.

Please enjoy the seven reports for this week!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your observations, nature tales and insights! Get in touch with me (cmitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.

Prairie Creek Community School in Northfield

Prairie Creek Community School phenology report: April 9, 2024

Oak Grove Elementary School

Oak Grove Elementary School phenology report: April 9, 2023

Little Falls Middle School

Little Falls Middle School phenology report: April 9, 2023

Long Lake Conservation Center

Long Lake Conservation Center TrekNorth phenology report: April 9, 2023

Long Lake Conservation Center Benilde-St. Margaret's phenology report: April 9, 2023

North Shore Community School

North Shore Community School phenology report: April 9, 2023

Lake of the Woods School

Lake of the Woods School phenology report: April 9, 2023

Latest stories

Contributed

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University of Minnesota

Parasitic fungi shows promise to control emerald ash borer beetles

Researchers tested 10 fungi from MN to assess for their ability to kill the pests when used in traps. The method may be useful in hard-to-access forests in Northern Minnesota.
Contributed

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USFWS Midwest Region via Flickr

Great Horned Owls' courtship duets echo through the winter forest

Charlie Mitchell

During the Phenology Report for the week of Dec. 9, 2025, Staff Phenologist John Latimer covers Great Horned Owl courtship, the bounding tracks of otters, and his notes from birthdays gone by..

That does it for this week! For more phenology, <b>subscribe</b> to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

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KAXE Morning Show Phenology Phenology Talkbacks KAXE Morning Show Tuesday Morning Show KAXE Spring Phenology

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.<br/><br/><br/>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

Creative Commons License

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.