Unlike Canada geese, which foul parks and lawns with their droppings, the pelicans typically stay away from populated areas. The vast majority of their land treks are limited to their nesting island, located in a fairly isolated part of the lake. The pelicans arrive in May and depart for fresh water habitat near the Gulf of Mexico in late September or early October, Bahls said.

At this time of the year, the island is brimming with young pelicans, old enough to swim but unable to fly. We kept our distance from the island but even at more than 150 yards, scores of the birds began scurrying into the water. It didn’t take long for the large young flock to group up and begin paddling in the bay. Above, older pelicans circled, while other adults swam nearby.

A few dead carp we had seen on the surface just moments earlier were quickly consumed.

“It’s neat to watch them feed,” Dahls said. “It’s getting much more common to see them. I have seen and heard of them on the Rock River and even on the Madison lakes. They’re definitely spreading out.”

Beavers are common on signs and lawn ornaments in this city, where the public high school mascot is the Golden Beavers. The city’s name came about when settlers in the mid-1800s discovered a beaver dam on a creek that flowed into what is now the Beaver Dam River.