Two flights advanced the migration 119 miles in the last week. They're in Wayne County, their last stop in the long state of Illinois, where they will stay today because the wind has shifted around to the SW, generating too strong a headwind for a successful flight. Will tomorrow’s conditions allow them to cross into Kentucky? It's looking good! Thirteen more flights will land them at their Florida winter home. All six cranes made both flights; details are on their bio pages.

Let's compare: Last year's unusual migration had the cranes being trucked nearly half of the entire route when northern weather proved stubbornly difficult, and on this date they'd been stuck by more bad weather in Carroll County, TN for 10 days. Same for the Class of 2013—but the Class of 2012 completed migration on this date three years ago! Join us next Monday for our weekly progress summary, and stay in touch with daily updates and video cams at Operation Migration.

All six were on the left wing of the aircraft as they left Cumberland Co. Illinois Nov. 22. "When they approached Interstate 70's heavy traffic, two of the birds took a small detour and ended up on the right wing as they flew over," reports Pete Weber, who took this photo:

Pete Weber