This streaky brown bird is a winter visitor, occasionally found walking around the muddy margins of marshes.

The spiked shieldbug has fearsome shoulder projections or 'spikes' and a predatory nature. This brown bug feeds on caterpillars and other insects in woodlands and on heathlands.

These large seals can often be seen bobbing in the sea or lying on beaches waiting for their food to go down.

Herb-Paris has four oval leaves set in a cross, with an understated crown of yellow-green flowers rising from the middle. This makes it quite a distinctive plant of ancient and damp woodlands on…

Found around our coasts during the breeding season, the large Sandwich tern can be spotted diving into the sea for fish such as sandeels. It nests in colonies on sand and shingle beaches, and…

The branching, finger-like projections of this fungus give it the appearance of an underwater coral. Its striking colour and form make it easy to spot, but it is scarce in the UK.

Famed for its super-fast fishing dives into the sea, the northern gannet (or gannet) is a distinctive white bird with a yellow head and black wingtips. It nests in large, noisy, smelly colonies on…

Shag' is a very old name that means 'tufted' and refers to the small crest that this bird sports. Look out for it in spring and summer either diving for fish from the surface of the…

The common rosefinch is a rare visitor to the UK, usually passing through in autumn.

Guillemots really know how to live life on the edge – quite literally! They nest tightly packed on steep ledges and cliffs around the coast. This may sound like a strange nesting spot, but it…

A fleshy herb of the wet margins of brooks, streams and ditches, Brooklime can be seen all year-round and provides shelter for tadpoles and sticklebacks.