As part of my 2017 challenge to blog every week I decided to join in with January’s #photoanhour This month’s day for the challenge was Sunday 30th January. 

Here’s what I got up to:

8am: up and out in the garden making sure the bird feeders were topped up and ready for our hour taking part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch later in the day. 

9am: in the car and on our way to WWT London Wetland Centre in Barnes, on the M4 elevated section. 

10am: in the Peacock Tower hide at the WWT London Wetland Centre, taking part in a birdwatch with a warden. We watched a bittern in the reeds, tufted ducks diving and bobbing, teals, wigeons and spoonbills. We also added pintails to #my200birdyear list, three females made their way across the ice before gliding across the clear water, and later we saw a pair, beautiful birds, the male very handsome, a really lovely bird to see. 

11am: watching the Asian short clawed otters being fed. They were very entertaining, begging up on their back legs, then diving for food. Next to their enclosure was this fantastic lego otter, one of several lego an inside dotted around the centre, including a swan, crane, dragonfly and even a frog.

12 midday: after a wander round the collection, enjoying watching ducks and wetland birds from around the world, it was time for a piece of cake and a cuppa to support conservation in the cafe. The cake was delicious! 

We particularly enjoyed seeing the Goldeneye and Smew. One male Goldeneye was in an aggressive frame of mind, diving down to come up biting other birds’ bottoms, leading to a very aggrieved looking mallard. 

1pm: travelling home, crossing the Jubilee River on the M4. 

2pm: home and time for a light lunch of leek and potato soup and a bread roll. 

3pm: Mid way through our Big Garden Birdwatch, an hour recording the birds visiting our garden for the RSPB. Magpie, woodpigeon, pair of great tits and pair of blackbirds so far. 

4pm: Time to clean out Toffee the Guinea Pig, he needed a quick bath too, and then relaxed in his pig pod with a treat of some banana while I cleaned his run. 

5pm: planning marmalade making, have plenty of oranges but also need a lemon so it’s a job for another day. I’ve never made marmalade before so looking forward to giving this a go! 

6pm: Having a cheeky glass of wine while I make dinner. Creamy mushroom risotto on its way. 

7pm: The risotto is ready and it’s delicious. Time to relax! 

8pm: Relaxing with candles burning and another great book from Matt Sewell. I love the quirky drawings and interesting descriptions of the birds.

9pm: Sunday evening and everyone in our house is relaxing, including our rabbits, Toni and Cornelius. 

10pm: We were winding down for the night, but the hamsters are just getting going. They’d all been out for a run and now it was time for Dexter’s dinner time. 

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for organising, I’ve enjoyed joining in, looking forward to next month! 

We had a good Sunday, hope you did too.