Pelicans in migration

At a ridge-top overlook last week, I watched kettles of White Pelicans lift off a lake a few miles away, sort themselves into a loose thermal, circle up for eight minutes, and then glide out in a long, clean line. My counts: 84, 117, 69, 42, one straggler. That’s a lot of weight in the air over nothing in particular, which is what migration looks like most days.