The common pond skater can be seen 'skating' over the surface of ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers. It is predatory, feeding on small insects by detecting vibrations in the…

This striking black-and-white moth flies during the day in open woodlands, moorlands, and bogs. It's most common on Scottish moors.

Found almost everywhere, the large yellow underwing is a night-flying moth that is often attracted to lights. It is brown with orangey-yellow hindwings.

A very rare species, this moth is now limited to one site in the UK. Males can be a striking reddish buff in colour.

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.

This snowy white moth is easily mistaken for the similar brown-tail, until it lifts its abdomen to reveal a burst of golden-yellow.

Flowering rush is a pretty rush-like plant of shallow wetland habitats, such as ponds, canals and ditches. Its cup-shaped, pink flowers appear in summer, brightening up the water's edge.

The fearsome common backswimmer hunts insects, tadpoles and fish. It uses its oar-like legs to swim upside-down under the water's surface where unsuspecting prey can be found.

Escaped or intentionally freed from fur farms in the 1960s, the American mink is now well established in the UK. Its carnivorous nature is a threat to our native water vole and seabird populations…

Forming mats of straight, bright green stems, Common spike-rush does, indeed, look like lots of tightly clustered 'spikes' near the water's edge of our wetland habitats.