This shiny beetle is common in wooded areas throughout the UK. As the name suggests, it specialises in hunting snails.

This brightly-coloured beetle is often found feeding on flowers on warm days in late spring and summer.

This tiny wading bird is most often seen in autumn, feeding on the muddy margins of wetlands.

The brown hairstreak is an elusive butterfly that spends much of its time in the treetops feeding on aphid honeydew.

This well-camouflaged wader is a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be seen feeding on wetlands with a distinctive bobbing motion.

The striking red twigs and crimson, autumnal leaves of dogwood make this small shrub an attractive ornamental plant. It can be seen growing wild along woodland edges and hedgerows.

Related to the massive albatross, the fulmar is a gull-like bird that nests on rocky cliff edges. Don't get too close, though - it spits a foul-smelling oil at intruders.

In May, our hedgerows and woodland edges burst into life as midland hawthorn erupts with masses of pinky-white blossom. During the autumn, red fruits known as 'haws' appear.

Wild privet is a shrub of hedgerows, woodlands and scrub, but is also a popular garden-hedge plant. It has white flowers in summer and matt-black berries in winter that are very poisonous.