Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies Duck Migration Forecast

Where Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies is

Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies is drawn from 6 counties in Pennsylvania: Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset. 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 Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies peaks

DuckCast’s season model puts the wood duck peak here around mid October. 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 Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies

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

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 Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies

5 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Jamestown, NY, about 135 miles north, Buffalo, NY, about 185 miles north, Binghamton, NY, about 190 miles northeast, Iroquois NWR, NY, about 205 miles north and Montezuma NWR, NY, about 215 miles northeast. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.

Radar over Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies

Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KCCX, the National Weather Service radar at State College, about 55 miles northeast 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 Raystown and the Southern Alleghenies are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.