A winter visitor, the well-travelled Bewick's swan is the smallest of our swans. It has more black on its yellow-and-black bill than the whooper swan. Look out for it around Eastern England…

Brush through a wildflower meadow at the height of summer and you'll hear the tiny seeds of yellow-rattle rattling in their brown pods, hence its name.

The common mussel is a familiar sight on shores all around the UK and is a favourite food of people, seabirds and starfish alike.

The distinctive sight of a spoonbill is becoming increasingly common in the east and southwest of England, with colonies of breeding birds now established.

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.

As its name suggests, creeping bent runs along the ground before it bends and grows upright. It is a common grass of arable land, waste ground and grasslands.

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

If you spot a crawling shell next time you're at the seaside, take a closer look… it might be a hermit crab!

This large, fluffy-looking moth is on the wing in July and August, but you might spot a caterpillar at almost any time of year.

These little sea snails are found amongst the seaweed on rocky shores around much of the UK. They come in lots of different colours, from bright yellow to chequered brown!