Having half-heartedly chased but failed to catch a feral pigeon,a peregrine falcon settles in the sunshine on the weathervane of the Kingston Guildhall,his favourite lookout post(see picture).

Directly below in the Hogsmill river,shoals of large chub nose sinuously into the current.

Hard by Clattern bridge,a pair of grey wagtails busily pick beaks full of hatching alder flies,catching them in mid-air then running along the lower wall to feed fledglings tucked up in a nest against the bridge.A kingfisher flashes upstream past them like a vivid electric blue streak.

Where the Hogsmill flows into the Thames a pair of great crested grebes perform their spectacular courtship display,facing one another,necks outstretched,heads shaking,dagger-like bills agape with water weed and sticks,akin to presenting token bunches of flowers.

A chiffchaff sings,resident lesser black-backed gulls patrol the Thames,a pair of mandarins mingle with mallard and swans parade up and down close to the bank.

At Turks pier I'm thrilled to see the swallows have returned,fresh bright royal blue plumage glinting in the sun as they speed by snapping up flies from the surface.As regular readers know,this is their annual nesting site that I have watched for fifteen years so hopefully the bluebirds will rebuild under the pier again as last year's nests were washed away during the winter floods.

The only birds missing are the common terns but they will arrive any day now to enthrall us with their graceful buoyant bouncing flight and spectacular dives into the river to catch fish.

Busy Kingston riverside and its environs really are a haven for wildlife watchers.