Piedmont and Upper Potomac Duck Migration Forecast

Where Piedmont and Upper Potomac is

Piedmont and Upper Potomac is drawn from 4 counties in Maryland: Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery. 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.

When Piedmont and Upper Potomac peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around mid January. 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 Piedmont and Upper Potomac

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in Piedmont and Upper Potomac are mallards, Canada geese and wood ducks. Against the state as a whole, it expects fewer scoters, pintails, black ducks, wigeon, green-winged teal, snow geese, gadwall, blue-winged teal, mallards and Canada geese in Piedmont and Upper Potomac.

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 Piedmont and Upper Potomac

5 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Harrisburg, PA, about 65 miles north, Williamsport, PA, about 130 miles north, Wilkes-Barre, PA, about 145 miles northeast, Binghamton, NY, about 200 miles north and Erie, PA, about 245 miles northwest. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Piedmont and Upper Potomac

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KLWX, the National Weather Service radar at Sterling, about 30 miles southwest of the region’s weather point. That is close enough for the radar to sample the air over the region itself. 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 Piedmont and Upper Potomac are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.