A flock of American white pelicans circles over Iron Mountain on Sunday afternoon. While some showed signs of having “nuptial tubercles,” or large ridges on top of their bills that indicate they are of breeding age, most appeared to be non-breeding birds. Once a fairly western species, white pelicans have been expanding their range eastward, even nesting in recent years for the first time along Lake Erie. On Lake Michigan, colonies have been found in Delta County in the Upper Peninsula. In Wisconsin, they’ve nested on Cat Island near Green Bay, islands on Lake Butte des Morts and in the Horicon Marsh refuge, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Still, they are not a common visitor to the Iron Mountain area. These did not linger, wheeling upward on a rising thermal until they reached a height that allowed them to soar eastward. With a wingspan of up to 9.5 feet and weighing up to 30 pounds, white pelicans are among the largest North American birds and one of the heaviest flying birds. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)