This week’s western Pennsylvania waterfowl migration report from David Rearick, a member of the Avery Outdoors Pro-Staff:

Date: Jan. 17

Location: New Castle

Weather: Snow, freezing rain and some sunshine.

Snow cover: 6-8 inches depending on the location.

Water conditions: Frozen solid in most areas, some moving bodies of water still open.

Feeding conditions: Difficult because of the newly formed ice crust on top of the snow and the melt that is occurring, but leftover grain is still present and available.

Species and numbers: Low numbers of Canada Geese in the area, very few ducks.

Migrations: None to speak of.

Season stage: Late goose season.

Hunting report: Hunting has been slow as birds numbers just aren’t available.

Gossip: Hopefully we get a January warm-up to help drive some of the birds back to the north, as it appears that most of the birds are to the south of us. Mid-January is typically a lull spot in the action, we just have to hope for a change in the weather to put more birds in the area.