A familiar garden bird, the great tit can be seen around bird tables and feeders, as well as in woodlands and parks. Listen out for its shrill song that sounds just like a bicycle pump being used…

A rare breeder in the UK, this sooty-coloured bird is as at home on an industrial site as it is on a rocky cliff face.

This wading bird is a rare visitor from North America, usually spotted in autumn.

The hawfinch is the UK's largest finch, with an enormous bill powerful enough to crush a cherry stone. Despite their size, they are typically elusive, especially during the summer nesting…

A fierce pirate of the sea, the great skua is renowned for stealing fish from other seabirds and dive-bombing anyone that comes near its nests. It breeds on the Scottish Isles.

The harvest mouse is tiny - an adult can weigh as little as a 2p piece! It prefers habitats with long grass, but you are most likely to spot its round, woven-grass nests.

Named for its three bull-like horns, the minotaur beetle is a large dung beetle found on grassland and heathland. Adults drag dung back to their nests for their larvae to feed on.

Living up to its name, the white-tailed bumblebee is black-and-yellow bee with a bright white 'tail'. A social bumble bee, it can be found nesting in gardens and woods, and on farmland…