The common red soldier beetle is also known as the 'bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the…

Look out for the small holly blue in your garden or local park. It is the first blue butterfly to emerge in spring, and a second generation appears in summer. The caterpillars are fond of holly…

A late-flowering plant, Autumn gentian displays pretty, mauve, tube-like flowers atop its reddish stems. It favours dry, chalk grassland and sand dune habitats.

This elegant wader is silvery grey in winter but turns black in summer!

Meadow buttercup is a tall and stately buttercup, with buttery-yellow flowers that pepper meadows, pastures, gardens and parks with little drops of sunshine.

As its name suggests, the large skipper is bigger than the similar-looking small skipper! It can be seen in summer, resting on the long grass of grasslands, woodlands, verges and sand dunes.

Soft brome is a tall, annual grass of roadside verges, waste ground and meadows, and is a 'weed' of arable land. It has long, grey-green leaves and loosely clustered flower spikes.

A beautiful, tiny fungus, green elf cup can be commonly found on the decomposing wood of deciduous trees in woods, parks and gardens.

The red admiral is an unmistakable garden visitor. This black-and-red beauty may be seen feeding on flowers on warm days all year-round. Adults are mostly migrants, but some do hibernate here.

A ferocious and agile predator, the green tiger beetle hunts spiders, ants and caterpillars on heaths, grasslands and sand dunes. It is one of our fastest insects and a dazzling metallic green…