This morning I was all psyched to have a nice walk to Beechwood and take pictures in the winter sunlight. I took a few shots of the ice-fringed rocks in the river, and spotted this male bufflehead all by himself below the weir:

Just as a pair of downy woodpeckers started tapping away at a nearby tree, I discovered my camera batteries had died. Unhappy blogger! I carried on to Beechwood, afraid that deer and foxes would appear around every corner to mock me, but my only company was one of the woodpeckers who came along to see what I was up to. Better luck next time.