Western Maryland Duck Migration Forecast

Where Western Maryland is

Western Maryland is drawn from 3 counties in Maryland: Allegany, Garrett and Washington. 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 Western Maryland peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around late November. Western Maryland carries its own mallard timing rather than the statewide curve, because the season here runs on a different clock from the rest of the state. 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 Western Maryland

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

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 Western Maryland

4 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Harrisburg, PA, about 100 miles northeast, Williamsport, PA, about 140 miles northeast, Erie, PA, about 195 miles northwest and Montezuma, NY, about 255 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Western Maryland

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KLWX, the National Weather Service radar at Sterling, about 70 miles southeast 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 Western Maryland are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.