I took a short walk around the Capitol end of the Mall this evening. The flocks of ring-billed gulls that spend the winter at the Capitol's reflecting pool appear to be reduced in number. Meanwhile, red-winged blackbirds and common grackles are starting to move in. At the National Museum of the American Indian, very few mallards were left. One northern mockingbird was singing its hear out, while a few blackbirds called from the reeds.