Tawny owls are the familiar brown owls of Britain’s woodlands, parks and gardens. They are known for their ‘too-wit too-woo’ song that can be heard at night-time.

This beautiful beetle only arrived in the UK in 1960s but is now a common sight on garden herbs.

The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…

A well-travelled migrant, the painted lady arrives here every summer from Europe and Africa. This beautiful orange-and-black butterfly regularly visits gardens.

As its name suggests, creeping bent runs along the ground before it bends and grows upright. It is a common grass of arable land, waste ground and grasslands.

The rose chafer can be spotted on garden flowers, as well as in grassland, woodland edges and scrub.

A low-growing plant of sand dunes, heaths and grassy places, Common centaury is in bloom over summer. Look for clusters of pretty, pink, five-petalled flowers.

Their empty, delicate pink or yellow shells can often be found washed up on beaches, but the animals themselves live buried in the sand all around the coasts of the UK.

The much-loved mallard is our most familiar duck, found across town and country. If you're feeding the ducks please don't feed them bread - it's not good for them! Instead, they…