Flitting about the house in summer, the gangly, brown daddy longlegs is familiar to many of us. They are a valuable food source for many birds.

A delicate wader, Red-necked phalaropes are as comfortable swimming as they are on land. Unusually for birds, the females are more brightly coloured than the males.

Ein hunig neidr wenwynig, gellir gweld y wiber swil yn torheulo yn yr heulwen mewn llennyrch mewn coetiroedd ac ar rostiroedd.

Known as the phantom of the forest, goshawks can fly through the trees at up to 40km per hour as they hunt birds and small mammals.

Traditionally a coastal species, Lesser sea-spurrey has spread inland, taking advantage of the winter-salting of our roads. Its pink-and-white flowers bloom in summer.

Fat hen is a persistent 'weed' of fields and gardens, verges and hedgerows. But, like many of our weed species, it is a good food source for birds and insects.

The jackdaw is a small, black-capped crow of woodlands, parks, towns and coast. It is a well-known thief, stealing other birds' eggs and breaking into garden feeders.

Despite being considered a 'weed' of cultivated ground, the seeds of the Creeping thistle provide an important food source for farmland birds, many of which are declining rapidly.

The linnet can be seen on farmland and heathland across the UK. But, like so many other farmland birds, linnets are declining rapidly, mainly due to agricultural intensification.