This Minnesota brook trout turns fall colors

Brook trout are turning bright

More than 700 miles of spring-fed streams make southeastern Minnesota an ideal place to watch for brook trout during fall hikes. Male brook trout sport their most vibrant colors during fall spawning, with red-orange bellies and lower fins beneath their speckled bodies. Along with lake trout, “brookies” are Minnesota’s only two native salmonid species. Find out more at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Common mergansers are sticking around

Look for these sleek red-orange-billed ducks along lakes and rivers in the metropolitan area and throughout the state as they dive for and devour small fish. Females look most distinctive with reddish-brown feathers that stick out behind their head like a bad hair day. While many migrate south, common mergansers may stick around when open water allows steady access to fish, especially along Lake Superior.

Wild grapes are ripe

If you spot bright yellow leaves twining across fences or up the trunks of hardwood trees, look closer. Chances are you’ll spot the petite fruit of Minnesota’s wild grape. They are ripe for the picking from August through October, typically. Also known as the riverbank grape, this vine likes edges of forests and waterways and can climb as high as 50 feet. Bears, deer, foxes, raccoons, deer and more than 50 species of birds like to raid these tart fruits. Forager Chef Alan Bergo provides tips for correctly identifying wild grapes, as well as juicing them and using the leaves.

Lisa Meyers McClintick of St. Cloud has freelanced for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2001 and volunteers as a Minnesota Master Naturalist.