The courtship of the marsh harrier is certainly a sight to behold - wheeling and tumbling through the sky, male and female partners lock talons in mid-air. Look out for this rare bird over…

The whooper swan is a very rare breeding bird in the UK, but has much larger populations that spend winter here after a long journey from Iceland. It has more yellow on its yellow-and-black bill…

The common sexton beetle is one of several burying beetle species in the UK. An undertaker of the animal world, it buries dead animals like mice and birds, and feeds and breeds on the corpses.

Unsurprisingly, the nocturnal long-eared owl sports large 'ear tufts' on its head, while the short-eared owl has much smaller ear tufts. A shy bird, it is best spotted around the coast…

A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the coot is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. The coot can be distinguished from the similar…

A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the moorhen is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. It can be distinguished from the similar…

The common scoter has suffered large declines in the UK, threatening its survival here. Look out for this duck feeding at sea in winter when its numbers are bolstered by migrating birds.

This stocky wader is mostly a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be found on rocky, seaweed-covered coasts, often with groups of turnstones.

Although introduced by humans, the fallow deer has been here so long that it is considered naturalised. Look out for groups of white-spotted deer in woodland glades.