This beautiful beetle is fond of damp meadows and woodland rides, where it's often found on umbellifers or thistles.

Kissing under the mistletoe is a much-loved Christmas tradition, making this plant familiar to us all. It actually grows as a parasite on trees - look for it hanging off branches in large balls…

Our only venomous snake, the shy adder can be spotted basking in the sunshine in woodland glades and on heathlands.

Living up to its name the Common blue damselfly is both very common and very blue. It regularly visits gardens - try digging a wildlife-friendly pond to attract damselflies and dragonflies.

Rare summer visitors, honey buzzards breed in open woodland where they feed on the nests and larvae of bees and wasps.

Common cow-wheat is a delicate annual that brightens up the edges of acid woodland and heaths with deep golden flowers in the summer.

The umbrella-like clusters of white, frothy flowers of cow parsley are a familiar sight along roadsides, hedgerows and woodland edges.

This dainty white butterfly is now only found in a few parts of Britain, where it flutters slowly through woodland clearings.

This small finch nests on moorlands and coastal crofts, spending the winter on the coast. The UK population has declined dramatically.

Herb-robert is a low-growing plant, with small, pretty, pink flowers. Look for it in shady spots in woodland, hedgerows and coastal areas.