A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the moorhen is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. It can be distinguished from the similar…

This beautiful butterfly is one of our rarest, now mostly restricted to the western parts of the UK.

Our largest starfish, the spiny starfish can reach an impressive diameter of 70cm!

Goose barnacles often wash up on our shores attached to flotsam after big storms.

Able to camouflage itself to its surroundings, the European flounder is one of our many amazing flatfish!

One of our largest soldier beetles, often found on flowers where they hunt other insects.

Our only venomous snake, the shy adder can be spotted basking in the sunshine in woodland glades and on heathlands.

Hornwrack is often found washed up on our beaches, with many believing that it is dried seaweed. In fact, it is a colony of animals!

The ragworm is highly common on our shores, though rarely seen except by the fishermen that dig them up for bait.

As the bluebells fade, yellow archangel takes its turn to impress, with golden-yellow flowers carpeting our ancient woodlands.