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!

From spring, look out for the beautiful, speckled gold-and-black breeding plumage of the golden plover. It can be found in its upland moorland breeding grounds from May to September, moving to…

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.

As its name suggests, creeping bent runs along the ground before it bends and grows upright. It is a common grass of arable land, waste ground and grasslands.

Hedge mustard is a tall plant with small, yellow flowers atop tough stems. It likes disturbed ground and grows in hedgerows and roadside verges, and on waste ground.

The Dark bush-cricket, as its name suggests, is dark brown or reddish. It can be found in woodlands, hedgerows and gardens throughout summer. Its irregular chirpings are a familiar sound of summer…

Oyster mushrooms are shell shaped fungi that grow in tiers or fabulous clusters on dead trees or stumps. Unlike many fungi, these mushrooms are not seasonal and can be found all year round,…

The soft, downy look of Yorkshire-fog makes it an attractive plant, even if it is considered a weed of cultivated land! It is also attractive to the caterpillars of the Small Skipper butterfly as…