The pretty small tortoiseshell is a familiar garden visitor that can be seen feeding on flowers all year-round during warm spells. Overwintering adults may find resting spots in sheds, garages or…

The common dandelion is a most familiar flower: counting down the 'clock', while blowing the fluffy seeds from its head, is a favourite childhood game. Dandelions are an important early…

The common spangle gall wasp produces a small, disc-shaped growth, or 'gall', on the undersides of oak leaves. Inside the gall, the larvae of the wasp feed on the host tissues, but cause…

The knopper gall wasp produces knobbly red, turning to brown, growths, or 'galls', on the acorns of Pedunculate Oak. Inside the gall, the larvae of the wasp feed on the host tissues, but…

The thresher shark is a migratory species and passes through UK waters in the summer months. If you’re lucky, you might see this magnificent shark jump high out of the water in to the air.

The common whelk is the largest sea snail found in UK seas, though you're more likely to find the dry balls of empty whelk egg capsules washed up in strandlines.

The sanderling scampers about the waves looking for marine crustaceans, fish and even jellyfish to eat. It visits the UK in winter from its Arctic breeding grounds, but can also be seen as it…

The diminutive common shrew has a distinctively pointy nose and tiny eyes. It lives life in the fast lane, eating every 2-3 hours to survive, and only living for a year or so. Look out for it in…

The small, brown Dartford warbler is most easily spotted when warbling its scratchy song from the top of a gorse stem. It lives on lowland heathland in the south of England, where it nests on the…