The easiest way to find out if the nocturnal and well-camouflaged nightjar is about is to listen out for its distinctive 'churring' call at dusk. A summer visitor, it is most numerous in…

Famously predatory, the long, slender pike will lurk among the vegetation of a river or lake, bursting out with ferocious speed to catch its prey. Look out for it across the UK.

The red grouse is an umistakeable bird - plump and round, with a gingery-red body as its name suggests. Found on upland heathlands, it is under threat from the nationwide, dramatic loss of these…

A spindly tree of heathland and moorlands, and dry and sandy soils, the Silver birch is well known for its paper-thin, white bark. It is a great coloniser and can quickly spread in an area.

Flowering rush is a pretty rush-like plant of shallow wetland habitats, such as ponds, canals and ditches. Its cup-shaped, pink flowers appear in summer, brightening up the water's edge.

The once-common pochard is now under threat because its populations are declining rapidly. The UK is an important winter destination for the pochard, with 48,000 birds visiting our wetlands and…

The Red-eyed damselfly is a small, but robust, damselfly of canals, ponds, lakes and slow-flowing rivers. As its name suggests, it has bright blood-red eyes, but a mostly black body.

Living up to its name, the white-tailed bumblebee is black-and-yellow bee with a bright white 'tail'. A social bumble bee, it can be found nesting in gardens and woods, and on farmland…

The Atlantic salmon spends most of its life at sea, but makes an epic journey back to the river or stream in which it hatched to spawn. Look out for it in freshwater rivers in the north and west…

As its name suggests, the birch shieldbug can be found feeding on silver birch, and sometimes hazel, in mixed woodland. Adults hibernate over winter, emerging in spring to lay their eggs.

The common red soldier beetle is also known as the 'bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the…

Often seen carpeting the floor of ancient woodlands, Dog's mercury can quickly colonise, its fresh green leaves shading out rarer plants. It is also very poisonous.