IT has everything - murder, mating and mayhem, and all in picturesque settings. Yes, Springwatch is back!

As a keen fan of this BBC2 naturefest, I was delighted to see its return on Monday night, with all the usual crew.

Bill Oddie is still heading the gang, with Kate Humble providing a restraining influence on the former Goodie at the team's Devon base.

Meanwhile, Simon King has been shipped off to the wilds of a Scottish island, as usual.

I suspect this is because even nature lovers like Bill and Kate find the level of his enthusiasm about everything he sees a little wearing after a while!

Simon can wax lyrical about almost anything.

On Monday he took us on a guided tour of the many birds' nests to be found in the buildings at a farm on the island, expressing his amazement at the number.

While his enthusiasm can be infectious, there are times when you just want to say: Calm down, Simon. It's just a really ugly bug, when all's said and done.' He should take lessons from old Bill, who can be as effusive as anyone, but tempers his enthusiasm with a large dose of mischievous wit.

Monday's episode introduced us to the cast list of creatures that will entertain and fascinate us for the next three weeks. There are golden eagles, choughs, barn owls, tawny owls, foxes, seals and kingfishers, to name just a few.

Even the usually shy badgers came out to say hello as the series began.

It certainly isn't all cuddly chicks and happy animal families, however.

Within minutes of the series starting, we saw a baby owl eating one of its smaller siblings (accompanied by Bill's less than sensitive comment that children at home shouldn't mimic this particular piece of television).

It's nature in the raw, with as many sad moments as uplifting sights.

If you haven't been initiated into this televisual delight yet, give the soaps a miss and tune into this shining example of what reality shows should be like.