The most commonly encountered ray around the British Isles, it's easy to see where the thornback ray got its name from - just check out the spines on its back!

This black and grey solitary bee takes to the wing in spring, when it can be seen buzzing around burrows in open ground.

One of our most familiar spring flowers, the cowslip brightens up ancient meadows and woodlands with its egg-yolk-yellow, nodding blooms.

The Yellow star-of-Bethlehem is a woodland plant that lives up to its name - it displays starry, gold flowers in an umbrella-like cluster in early spring.

An uncommon tree of wet woodlands, riverbanks and heathlands, alder buckthorn displays pale green flowers in spring, and red berries that turn purple in autumn.

A climbing plant of hedgerows and woodlands, white bryony produces greenish flowers from late spring and shiny, red berries from late summer.

Named for its three bull-like horns, the minotaur beetle is a large dung beetle found on grassland and heathland. Adults drag dung back to their nests for their larvae to feed on.

The common clubtail is on the wing in spring and summer. It is an elusive dragonfly that is easiest to see when it first emerges. It can be found along rivers in Southern England and Wales.

One of the joys of a spring day is watching a fluttering, lemon-yellow brimstone alight on a flower - an early sign that the seasons are changing. It is commonly spotted in gardens, woodland and…