The rare Slavonian grebe is an attractive diving bird with distinctive, golden ear tufts that give rise to its American name - 'horned grebe'.

The Welsh poppy is a plant of damp and shady places, roadsides and hillsides. It is also a garden escapee. It flowers over summer, attracting nectar-loving insects.

When spotting the pintail in winter, look out for the fabulous, long tail feathers that characterise it. This dabbling duck feeds at the water's surface, rather than diving for food.

The river lamprey is a primitive, jawless fish, with a round, sucker-mouth which it uses to attach to other fish to feed from them. Adults live in the sea and return to freshwater to spawn.

A great way to get up close and personal with the magnificent osprey is via one of the many nestcams set-up in the places that it breeds: Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and the East Midlands.

Giants of the jellyfish world, these incredible creatures are the UK’s largest jellyfish! They can grow to the size of dustbin lids – giving them their other common name: dustbin-lid jellyfish.…