A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the coot is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. The coot can be distinguished from the similar…

A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the moorhen is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. It can be distinguished from the similar…

With club-shaped leaflets on its fronds, wall-rue is easy to spot as it grows out of crevices in walls. Plant it in your garden rockery to provide cover for insects.

A funny little fellow in his glossy black dinner jacket and crisp white bib, the puffin is instantly recognisable from its brightly coloured parrot-like bill. Puffins use their colourful bill to…

The Marsh helleborine is a beautiful orchid of fens, wet grassland and dune slacks. Growing in profusion in places, look for reddish stems and white-and-pink flowers.

Have you ever seen the curious face of a grey seal bobbing in the waves when visiting the beach? Grey seals can be seen lying on beaches waiting for their food to go down. Sometimes they are…

A clever mimic, the wasp beetle is black-and-yellow and moves in a jerky, flight-like fashion - fooling predators into thinking it is actually a more harmful common wasp. Look for it in hedgerows…

The nursehound is a nocturnal predator, hunting smaller fish close to the seafloor.

The much-loved mallard is our most familiar duck, found across town and country. If you're feeding the ducks please don't feed them bread - it's not good for them! Instead, they…