The UK's smallest hawker, the hairy dragonfly is mostly black in colour, but has a distinctively hairy thorax. It can be found in grazing marshes and flooded gravel pits, and along canals…

It’s easy to see where these butterflies get their name – the males have bright orange tips on their wings! See them from early spring through to summer in meadows, woodland and hedges.

The silver Y migrates to the UK in massive numbers each year - sometimes, an estimated 220 million can reach our shores in spring! Seen throughout the year, it is very common in gardens and…

The common octopus is a highly intelligent, active predator. It even has a secret weapon - special glands produce a venom that it uses to incapacitate its prey!

An inconspicuous tree for much of the year, the wild service tree comes to life in spring, when it displays pretty, white blossom, and autumn, when its maple-like leaves turn bright crimson.

Selfheal is a low-growing, creeping plant that likes the short turf of grasslands, roadside verges or even lawns. Its clusters of violet flowers appear in summer.

A familiar shrub of hedgerows and woodland edges, blackthorn comes alive in spring when it bursts into a froth of white blossom. It is well known for its sloes, too - the blue-black fruits used in…

So-named because its gnarled trunk can split as it grows, the crack willow can be seen along riverbanks, around lakes and in wet woodlands. Like other willows, it produces catkins in spring.