This a.m., I walked from the former Wetlands Exhibit around the Bird 
House to the sloth bear enclosure adjacent to Connecticut Ave. I 
found just one male wood duck, most likely a wild individual. It was 
behind the Bird House in the flamingo enclosure, in company of some 
mallards. The pools at the former Wetland Exhibit are now free of zoo 
birds but are being kept in good order. When the Zoo kept ducks 
there, up to two dozen wood ducks would overwinter and mooch food. 
The male I found behind the Bird House is likely the only woodie moocher left.

As I walked back toward the Visitor Center, I found a sparrow flock 
foraging on the ground at the west edge of the sloth bear enclosure, 
at the fence closest to the Bird House. In this flock of six to eight 
white-throated sparrows and two song sparrows, I found an immature 
white-crowned sparrow. It even sang for me from a small tree.

Howard Youth
Bethesda, MD