A sprawling, spiny evergreen, common juniper is famous for its traditional role in gin-making. Once common on downland, moorland and coastal heathland, it is now much rarer due to habitat loss.…

The little grebe is a fantastic diver, but to help it swim underwater, its feet are placed towards the back of its body, making it rather clumsy on land. It only really comes ashore to breed.

The pink-footed goose is a winter visitor to the UK, feeding on our wetland and farmland habitats. About 360,000 individuals spend the winter here, making it a really important destination for…

These winter visitors are close relatives of the chaffinch and can often be found in the same flocks, where their white rump and nasal calls give them away.

This secretive bird is a member of the rail family, related to coots and moorhens. The breeding call, a rasping rattle, is given mostly at night, sometimes for hours on end.

This tiny gamebird is rarely seen, but its distinctive "wet my lips" call can be heard ringing out over areas of farmland on summer evenings.

Small-spotted catsharks used to be called lesser-spotted dogfish - which might be what you know them best as. It's the same shark, just a different name!

Male capercaillies perform spectacular communal displays in spring, gathering in woodland clearings to parade around, fanning their magnificent tail feathers and making strange gulping and…

As its name suggests, the zebra spider has the familiar black-and-white stripes of a zebra, making it very distinctive. It can be found stalking its prey on rocks, trees and walls, particularly in…

A common tree, ash is familiar to many of us for its autumnal bunches of winged seeds, called 'keys'. It can be found in woodlands and prefers damp and fertile soils.

Sometimes called 'Marsh samphire', wild common glasswort is often gathered and eaten. It grows on saltmarshes and beaches, sometimes forming big, green, fleshy carpets.