Red squirrels are native to the UK but are a lot rarer than their grey cousins. They live in a few special places across the UK thanks to reintroduction projects.

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…

This beautiful beetle is fond of damp meadows and woodland rides, where it's often found on umbellifers or thistles.

Famous for its fearsome jaws, the stag beetle does not have the bite to match. Look for it in woods, parks and gardens in South East England in summer. Males display their massive jaws to attract…

This well-camouflaged wader is a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be seen feeding on wetlands with a distinctive bobbing motion.

This colonial creature looks like an old-fashioned quill - that's where the name sea pen comes from.

The petals of the rare Lizard orchid's flowers form the head, legs and long tail of a lizard. They are greenish, with light pink spots and stripes, and smell strongly of goats! Spot this tall…

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

The raven is famous for being the imposing, all-black bird that guards the Tower of London. Wild birds live in forests, and upland and coastal areas in the north and west of the UK.

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.

Rare summer visitors, honey buzzards breed in open woodland where they feed on the nests and larvae of bees and wasps.