Four domestic ducks began regularly hanging around the bridge where the lake feeds into Six Mile Creek, or mixing in with Canada geese at the public boat launch.

They had a particular affinity for bedding down in the middle of the road, barely stirring for passing vehicles and apparently none too worried about the bald eagles that also hang out at the lake.

Where they came from remains a mystery: I and my mom first noticed a white duck poking around the cattails in the little pool just west of the bridge the first week of May. By last weekend, the number had expanded — two all-white “Pekin” types made popular in Aflac commercials, one with little touches of brown and green and one green-headed, showing off the long-ago mallard origins that are behind almost all domestic duck varieties.

Developed for meat and egg production, most domestic ducks — as with market turkeys — are too heavy and lack the wing strength and proper muscling to fly, though they can flap to help propel themselves across the water or ground when trying to escape.

A Black Bear forages by night. Wayne Gregg Photo

When I opened my car window to get a photo, though, these four came trooping right up, quacking softly. Obviously, these were no feral or wild-hatched hybridized birds.

One of the area farmers who keeps poultry speculated someone tired of having them around and abandoned them at the lake, even though they’d be, literally, sitting ducks for predators.

No one stepped forward to claim them after I posted the photo on Facebook, though several people did suggest recipes and that I “should try getting my ducks in a row.” Social media can be so helpful.

But a couple kind-hearted area residents on Thursday did, with makeshift fencing, manage to herd three of the ducks into a carrier. One of the whites, true to its name, “ducked” under the barrier and scooted back to the lake.

The three have been relocated to a safer pond. They will try again to corral the last holdout, but at least for now it does not look like these ducks are destined to be a meal anytime soon.

A red squirrel settles for leftovers. Betsy Bloom Photo

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As mentioned, the arrival of May also brought a lot of the late migratory birds back to the region.

Our first oriole showed up at the seed feeders Tuesday but now has a full array of grape jelly and oranges. The rose-breasted grosbeaks made an appearance later that same day. Others report hummingbirds and, by week’s end, indigo buntings.

As not much is blooming just yet, you should have good use of feeders if available. Try to avoid commercial nectar mixtures that use coloring — most hummingbird feeders have red or colored feeding ports that attract the birds just fine.

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I must admit I’m a little reluctant to recommend putting out feeders right now after having our little bird buffet raided by a bear overnight Thursday, leaving at least one feeder damaged beyond repair, another dented and the two shepherd’s hooks bent like blown-down cornstalks.

The red squirrels and I surveyed the carnage Friday morning. A neighbor later called my mom to report their home had been hit as well.

It means yet another season has arrived — the season of taking feeders in each night if we want to continue encouraging the birds to hang around during the day.

I just wish I’d had the memory cards in the yard trail camera to capture an image of the culprit — I take it out on Thursday nights to download and review for the column — but reader Wayne Gregg did bring in photos of a bear that showed up last month at his home. It returned this week, he said.

Better exercise some caution, all.

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One unexpected arrival this past week was a pair of Canada geese parading a string of goslings on the lake. I could not get an exact count but it looked like at least a half dozen. I would not have guessed they’d been on the nest long enough to have a brood yet, but apparently so.

Local wildlife rehabilitator Phyllis Carlson already has young gray squirrels under her care.

The canines, such as wolves and coyotes, should have whelped in late April, though foxes sometimes bear their litters later in the summer, said Monica Joseph, wildlife biologist at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Crystal Falls office.

But photos posted on Facebook from downstate Michigan show fox cubs already several weeks old and peeking out of the den.

The real flood of young animals in the Upper Peninsula should come in the next two weeks, as the majority of nestling birds hatch and small mammals already born begin to venture into the world.

Late May and early June also is the main period for does to drop fawns. So another reminder that if you come across a fawn in the wild, pressed to the ground, let it be — does will leave fawns concealed while they go off to graze, returning periodically to let them nurse but otherwise staying away so they don’t attract attention from a predator.

Very young fawns have little to no scent of their own and instinctively stay motionless and hidden when mom isn’t near. If not disturbed, they should avoid detection by coyotes, bears and bobcats that make up the top three fawn predators in the region.

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Also watch out this time of year for last year’s fawns, now yearlings and about to be booted from the comfort of mom’s company and guidance.

Does will drive these adolescent deer away as they near giving birth to this year’s fawns, Joseph said. It can leave the yearlings a little lost and unsure, which can make for some tricky encounters with motorists.

Roadkill deer have been almost a daily sight on the drive on M-95 and M-69 between Iron Mountain and Felch Township, most of them smaller individuals. While not surprising, it’s sad to think these fawns made it through their first winter only to die now, when harsh conditions no longer threaten.

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On an up note, Joseph said wild leeks are up. Can morels be far behind? My friends in southwestern Wisconsin already have proudly posted the delicacies they’ve found so far.

The marsh marigolds have begun blooming as well. Spring continues to mature toward summer.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 40, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.