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…

Reed sweet-grass is a towering grass with large, loose flower heads that can be found on marshy ground near rivers, streams and ponds. It can become invasive, but does shelter various aquatic…

The eider is a large seaduck, famed for its soft, downy feathers that are not only used by the bird to line and insulate its nest, but also by humans to stuff our quilts and pillows. It nests…

Famed for its super-fast fishing dives into the sea, the northern gannet (or gannet) is a distinctive white bird with a yellow head and black wingtips. It nests in large, noisy, smelly colonies on…

The large, plump woodpigeon is a familiar sight in our gardens and parks, but can also be found on farmland and in woodlands almost everywhere. You may hear its cooing call before you see the bird…

The giant house spider is one of our fastest invertebrates, running up to half a metre per second. This large, brown spider spins sheet-like cobwebs and pops up in the dark corners of houses,…

The St Mark's fly is small, black and shiny. It is so-called because it emerges around St Mark's Day, April 25th. Large numbers of adults can be found in woodland edges, hedgerows,…

This tiny gamebird is rarely seen, but its distinctive "wet my lips" call can be heard ringing out over areas of farmland on summer evenings.

The Arctic tern is famed for its aggression towards any that would disturb its nest - it will dive-bomb intruders with its sharp beak. Large, noisy colonies can be found on the Farne Islands and…

This dashing diving duck is a winter visitor to the UK's seas, coastal lakes and occasionally inland water bodies.

This small duck is an uncommon winter visitor to the UK, where they're usually found on lakes, reservoirs and gravel pits.