Guillemots really know how to live life on the edge – quite literally! They nest tightly packed on steep ledges and cliffs around the coast. This may sound like a strange nesting spot, but it…

A fleshy herb of the wet margins of brooks, streams and ditches, Brooklime can be seen all year-round and provides shelter for tadpoles and sticklebacks.

Look out for the small, yellow flowers of Celery-leaved buttercup in wet meadows and at the edges of ponds and ditches. It flowers from May to September.

A tall and hairy plant, Great willowherb displays pretty pink-and-cream flowers. It can be found in damp places, such as wet grasslands, ditches and riversides.

As its name suggests, Meadowsweet is a sweet-smelling flower of damp meadows, ditches and riverbanks. Look for frothy clusters of cream flowers on tall stems.

A notoriously poisonous plant, hemlock produces umbrella-like clusters of white flowers in summer. It can be found in damp places, such as ditches, riverbanks and waste ground.

Look for the White water-lily in still and slow-moving water, such as ponds, ditches, lakes and canals. Its lily pads and massive, white flowers float at the water's surface.

Look for the Yellow water-lily in still and slow-moving water, such as ponds, ditches, lakes and canals. Its lily pads and cupped, yellow flowers float at the water's surface.

A member of the buttercup family, Common water-crowfoot displays white, buttercup-like flowers with yellow centres. It can form mats in ponds, ditches and streams during spring and summer.

The common osier is a small willow tree that is found in fens and ditches, and on riverbanks. It has been widely cultivated and coppiced for its twigs, which are used in traditional basket-making…