Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain Duck Migration Forecast

Where Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain is

Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain is drawn from 12 counties in North Carolina: Bertie, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Johnston, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pitt, Wayne and Wilson. 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

• Roanoke River Wetlands Game Land (Bertie, Halifax, Martin and Northampton counties): Permit-only waterfowl impoundments, among them Conoho Farms and Pollocks Ferry; wood duck, mallard, ring-necked duck, wigeon and black duck.
• Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (Bertie County): Waterfowl hunting by NCWRC permit at Conine Island; mallard, wood duck, wigeon and black duck.

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 Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the green-winged teal peak here around late 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 Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain

In DuckCast’s season model, the species that can score highest in Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain are wood ducks, green-winged teal and mallards. Against the state as a whole, it expects more mallards in Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain and fewer scoters, snow geese, pintails, wigeon, gadwall, green-winged teal and black ducks.

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 Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain

6 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Hog Island, VA, about 110 miles northeast, Back Bay, VA, about 110 miles northeast, Lynchburg, VA, about 140 miles northwest, Fredericksburg, VA, about 170 miles north, Blackwater, MD, about 200 miles northeast and Susquehanna Flats, MD, about 270 miles north. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KRAX, the National Weather Service radar at Raleigh, about 50 miles west 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 Roanoke River and the Northern Coastal Plain are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.