This morning, while walking my dog around Greenbelt Lake, I was suprised to discover 3 American Wigeons (1 male, 2 females) 
feeding with a group of Ring-necked Ducks in the "South Bay" area of the lake.  This is a species that I havn't observed on the lake 
before (at any rate, since I really started paying attention).  In another part of the lake, I found 2 more female wigeons with a small 
group (4 pairs) of Hooded Mergansers.

In recent days there have been relatively large numbers of Ring-necked Ducks on the lake - between two and three dozen - nearly 
all of them males (say, in a 10:1 ratio).  It occurred to me that it is odd that the sex ratios among the different species of ducks seem 
to vary so much.  Like the hoodies, the resident Mallards also seem to come in pairs (or at least, pretty close to a 1:1 ratio).

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD (PG County)


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