The St Mark's fly is small, black and shiny. It is so-called because it emerges around St Mark's Day, April 25th. Large numbers of adults can be found in woodland edges, hedgerows,…

Sometimes called 'Marsh samphire', wild common glasswort is often gathered and eaten. It grows on saltmarshes and beaches, sometimes forming big, green, fleshy carpets.

The bearded tit is an unmistakable cinnamon-coloured bird of reedbeds in the south, east and north-west of England. Males actually sport a black 'moustache', rather than a beard!

This crab is common around all of the UK. If you've ever been rockpooling or crabbing, it's probably the shore crab that you've met.

A dark, stocky warbler, the Cetti's warbler is most likely to be heard, rather than seen - listen out for its bubbling song among willow, marsh and nettles.

A great way to get up close and personal with the magnificent osprey is via one of the many nestcams set-up in the places that it breeds: Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and the East Midlands.

Native oysters are a staple of our seas and our plates - but our love of their taste has lead to a sharp decline all around the UK.

A recent colonist to south east England, the metallic-green willow emerald damselfly spends much of its time in the willow and alder trees that overhang ponds, lakes and canals.