The brown rat has a bad reputation, but it mostly lives side-by-side with us without any problems. It can be seen in any habitat.

The spiny spider crab lives up to its name in every way! Their distinctive spiny shells are often found washed up on beaches.

The large, dark grey water shrew lives mostly in wetland habitats. It's a good swimmer that hunts for aquatic insects and burrows into the banks.

Look out for the distinctive white beak that gives this energetic dolphin its name. Don’t be surprised to see them breach and bowride too!

Forming mats of straight, bright green stems, Common spike-rush does, indeed, look like lots of tightly clustered 'spikes' near the water's edge of our wetland habitats.

Great reedmace is familiar to many of us as the archetypal 'bulrush'. Look for its tall stems, sausage-like, brown flower heads and green, flat leaves at the water's edge in our…

The barbastelle is a scarce bat that lives in woodland and forages over a wide area. It has a distinctive 'pug-like' appearance because of its upturned nose.

These gruesome sounding creatures are actually a type of coral! They get their name as they branch out into lobes as they grow - making them look like fingers on a hand.

Freshwater pearl mussels spend their adult lives anchored to the river bed, filtering water through their gills and improving the quality of the water for other species.

The Yellow star-of-Bethlehem is a woodland plant that lives up to its name - it displays starry, gold flowers in an umbrella-like cluster in early spring.

A key species in the story of conservation, the avocet represents an amazing recovery of a bird once extinct in the UK. This pied bird, with its distinctive upturned bill, can now be seen on…