The Coast and Altamaha Delta Duck Migration Forecast

Where The Coast and Altamaha Delta is

The Coast and Altamaha Delta is drawn from 8 counties in Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long and McIntosh. Those are the counties its shape on the DuckCast map is built from, so a hunter in any of them reads this region’s score.

Public ground with waterfowl hunting

• Altamaha WMA (McIntosh County): About 30,000 acres, with over 3,000 acres of managed tidal impoundments; Butler and Champney islands are hunted by quota.
• Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (Chatham and Effingham counties): Tidal freshwater marsh and former rice fields; waterfowl hunting is on the Georgia North Tract, by boat only.
• Altama Plantation WMA (Glynn County): A 3,986-acre WMA where Georgia DNR lists waterfowl among the game.
• Clayhole Swamp WMA (Glynn County): An 8,555-acre WMA where Georgia DNR lists waterfowl among the game.

Seasons, permits, draws and open days change from year to year, so check the state wildlife agency’s rules, linked below, before you go.

When The Coast and Altamaha Delta peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the wood duck peak here around early December. The timing follows the statewide curve; what differs here is how many birds the model expects, below. That is a modelled typical curve, not a prediction for any single year. The actual push depends on cold fronts and freeze-up upstream, which is what the daily score tracks. Always confirm season dates with the state wildlife agency, linked below.

Which birds the model expects in The Coast and Altamaha Delta

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in The Coast and Altamaha Delta are wood ducks, green-winged teal and Canada geese. Against the state as a whole, it expects more green-winged teal, gadwall and blue-winged teal in The Coast and Altamaha Delta and fewer wood ducks and Canada geese.

Those weights come from harvest records, survey counts and the kind of water, not from a count taken here each season. They cap how high each species’ score can climb; the weather still has to bring the birds.

What DuckCast watches upstream of The Coast and Altamaha Delta

3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Asheville, NC, about 280 miles north, Lake Norman, NC, about 280 miles north and Knoxville, TN, about 330 miles northwest. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over The Coast and Altamaha Delta

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KCLX, the National Weather Service radar at Charleston, about 75 miles north of the region’s weather point. That puts the radar just outside the region, near enough to see birds lifting off and passing close by. Radar sees every bird in the air, not only ducks, so it confirms or questions the score rather than moving it.

Locations stay generalized

Hunter reports for The Coast and Altamaha Delta are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.