Every evening now around dusk,about a thousand jackdaws, maybe more, fly very fast and direct just above rooftop height down Wimbledon hill Over the town centre they go, in ones and twos or in larger flocks, 'chack-chacking'to one another.

Busy with their own lives, commuters entering or leaving the railway station in droves don't look up and in fact nobody in the crowds thronging the town centre appears to glance skywards despite the fact that the noisy speeding passage of the birds is quite spectacular.

Onwards they go,overflying Morden Hall Park towards Beddington.

Soon,when town centre trees lose their leaves, pied wagtails will roost in dozens looking from below like white Christmas tree baubles, jostling for position and uttering calls that sound like 'chiswick-chiswick' although of course this is definitely Wimbledon.

Birds intent on roosting are in effect avian commuters themselves, indulging in their own rush hour travelling in some cases quite long distances to reach their goal like the gulls flying lazily above the jackdaws in the opposite direction towards West London reservoirs.

Probably the most famous evening gatherings involve starlings,in vast flocks called 'murmurations', choosing sites like Brighton pier, Somerset levels and even Wandsworth bridge.

Kingston town centre boasts its own mini murmuration.

By early afternoon, starlings begin restlessly zooming around their pre-roost sites, flying from tree to tree then back again or choosing rooftops including the Count Hall spire, providing that Mr Peregrine is not up there!

The morning commute is usually more fragmented, quieter and less regimented as the birds move off to feeding grounds for the day.