Week 6: Plan B—Hello, Tennessee! (Total Gone: 569 Miles)
November 17, 2014
Weekly Updates

With only 52 miles gained in 34 days and a grim weather forecast in Wisconsin, the team zoomed to a bold Plan B: They boxed the birds Nov. 13 and drove 600 miles to Tennessee to resume migration flights from there. Driving all night, they arrived Nov. 14 in Carroll County, Tennessee. Read more about the leap to Tennessee on each crane's bio page. Different weather patterns on the southern half of the migration route usually speed the migration along. But guess what? A winter weather advisory keeps them in Carroll County, TN. "It’s 32 degrees and snowing and the winds are howling from the northwest at 15 mph," reported Heather today. How do cranes cope with cold temperatures? This photo, taken in a previous year, shows what two cranes have done to keep their legs warm on a cold day at high altitude. They've pulled their legs up into their tummy feathers. Their wings are doing all the work, so it's no problem. Until our next weekly summary on November 24, see live action on Operation Migration's crane cam and flight cam channels, and find daily updates at Operation Migration.



 Image: Joe Duff, Operation Migration

 

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Fall 2014 crane migration map
Fall 2014 Migration
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Journey North is presented by Annenberg Learner.
Partial funding for this news update has been made possible through Operation Migration by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Southern Company through the Power of Flight Program.