The most commonly encountered ray around the British Isles, it's easy to see where the thornback ray got its name from - just check out the spines on its back!

A great way to get up close and personal with the magnificent osprey is via one of the many nestcams set-up in the places that it breeds: Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and the East Midlands.

The little grebe is a fantastic diver, but to help it swim underwater, its feet are placed towards the back of its body, making it rather clumsy on land. It only really comes ashore to breed.

The pretty Deptford pink is a very rare flower that is very vulnerable to the loss of our traditional grassland and farmland habitats. It can only be found in a few places in England and Wales.…

The willow tit lives in wet woodland and willow carr in England, Wales and southern Scotland. It is very similar to the marsh tit, but has a distinctive pale panel on its wings.

The common sandpiper breeds along rivers, and by lakes, reservoirs and lochs in upland Scotland, Northern England and Wales. It can be spotted as a passage migrant at many inland wetlands across…

A late-blooming flower, Meadow saffron looks like a crocus, displaying similar pink flowers once its leaves have died back. It is a highly poisonous plant of meadows and woodland rides and…

Look out for the swallow performing great aerial feats as it catches its insect-prey on the wing. You may also see it perching on a wire, or roosting in a reedbed, as it makes its way back to…