Common sunstar
This large starfish looks just like the sun, with 10-12 arms spreading outwards like rays.
This large starfish looks just like the sun, with 10-12 arms spreading outwards like rays.
This colonial creature looks like an old-fashioned quill - that's where the name sea pen comes from.
The variable damselfly looks a lot like the azure damselfly, but is much less common throughout most of the UK.
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.
Spot these tall, prehistoric looking birds standing like a statue on the edge of ponds and lakes, contemplating their next meal.
This sponge is found on rocky shores around the UK and looks like a thick bready crust (if you use your imagination a bit!).
Even a small pond can be home to an interesting range of wildlife, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts. Any pond can become a feeding ground for birds, hedgehogs and bats – the best…
This brown seaweed lives in the mid shore and looks a bit like bubble wrap with the distinctive air bladders that give it its name.
The whinchat is a summer visitor to UK heathlands, moorlands and open meadows. It looks similar to the stonechat, but is lighter in colour and has a distinctive pale eyestripe.
Frogbit looks like a mini water-lily as it floats on the surface of ponds, lakes and still waterways. It offers shelter to tadpoles, fish and dragonfly larve.
The sea hare looks like a sea slug – but in fact has an internal shell. They can be up to 20cm long but are usually much shorter.