Despite its name, the common gull is not as common as some of our other gulls. It can be spotted breeding at the coast, but is also partial to sports fields, landfill sites and housing estates in…

A medium-sized diving duck, the goldeneye can mainly be spotted in winter when birds fly in from Northern Europe. Conservation efforts have helped small numbers of these birds to nest in Scotland…

The great diving beetle is a large and voracious predator of ponds and slow-moving waterways. Blackish-green in colour, it can be spotted coming to the surface to replenish the air supply it…

The greylag goose can be easily spotted around parks, gravel pits and river valleys, but these populations tend to be semi-tame, having been reintroduced. Truly wild populations can be found in…

The orange ladybird is pale orange with up to 16 cream spots on its wing cases. It feeds on mildew on trees like sycamore and ash, and hibernates in the leaf litter. It often turns up in moth…

In summer, the sedge warbler can be spotted singing from a reed or willow perch in wetlands across the UK. Males never sing the same song twice, adding new phrases to impress the females.

It's easy to see where the snakelocks anemone got its name when you spot its flowing tentacles. But be careful when out rockpooling, those tentacles give a nasty sting!

The stone loach is notoriously hard to spot - not only is it mostly nocturnal, it is also well camouflaged and can partially bury itself in the riverbed. It uses its whisker-like barbels to find…

Like many of our farmland birds, the yellowhammer has declined in number in recent years. Spot this bright yellow bird singing from the top of a bush or fence, or in a mixed-species flock in…

The comma has distinctively ragged wing edges, which help to camouflage it - at rest, it looks just like a dead leaf! It prefers woodland edges, but can be spotted feeding on fallen fruit in…

Our most familiar wild violet, the Common dog-violet can be spotted in a range of habitats from woodland to grassland, hedgerows to pastures. Its pansy-like, purple flowers appear from April to…

The small, brown Dartford warbler is most easily spotted when warbling its scratchy song from the top of a gorse stem. It lives on lowland heathland in the south of England, where it nests on the…