The black garden ant is the familiar and abundant small ant that lives in gardens, but also turns up indoors searching for sugary food. In summer, winged adults, or 'flying ants', swarm…

The Broad centurion, or 'Green soldier fly', is one of our most common soldier flies, and is often found in gardens. It has hairy eyes and a metallic blue or bronze body. It is an…

Chicken of the woods is a sulphur-yellow bracket fungus of trees in woods, parks and gardens. It can often be found in tiered clusters on oak, but also likes beech, chestnut, cherry and even yew…

Despite its name, the common gull is not as common as some of our other gulls. It can be spotted breeding at the coast, but is also partial to sports fields, landfill sites and housing estates in…

The grey long-eared bat certainly lives up to its name - its ears are nearly as long as its body! It mainly forages over grassland and meadows, but is very rare in the UK.

The rhinoceros beetle lives up to its name by sporting a distinctive 'horn' on the males' head. This glossy, blue-black beetle can be found in woods, parks and hedgerows, and…

Look out for the black guillemot all year-round at scattered coastal sites in Scotland, England, Wales and the Isle of Man. It tends not to travel far between seasons, breeding and wintering in…

The Broad-bodied chaser is a common dragonfly that can be seen in summer around ponds and lakes, and even in gardens. It lives up to its name: its flattened body gives it a fat, broad look.

The common lime is a tall, broadleaf tree that is a natural hybrid between the Large-leaved and Small-leaved Limes. It can be seen in a variety of habitats, and has been widely planted along roads…

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…