Whoopee! Today (Day 69) they logged another hard-won 67 miles to Hardin County, the final stopover site in Tennessee. Better yet, December 3 was a huge day for these wonderful cranes: They flew 116 miles on their first double-leg flight, completed their first migration flight over 100 miles, and reached the journey south's halfway point at Carroll County, Tennessee. Brooke was able to get the birds up to 4,000 feet where they benefited from a nice tailwind. From here, it's 466 miles to their winter home, and 57 miles to the next stop, in ALABAMA! Count the stopovers remaining, and expect to see a few more double-leg flights. How are the birds at this stage of the migration? "Crane#1 is a diva, and so is #6 (killer). Cranes #2, #10, #11 and #8 are very subdued, sweet birds," reports Heather. Meet each bird on our bio pages. Stay in touch until next Monday's progress summary with daily updates and video cams at Operation Migration.

Takeoff! They achieved altitude of 4,000 ft. on this December 3rd flight.

Pete Weber