This distinctive bug is often seen basking on low-growing plants in spring and summer.

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

The delightful fragrance of wild thyme can punctuate a summer walk over a chalk grassland. It forms low-growing mats with dense clusters of purple-pink flowers.

This tiny wading bird is most often seen in autumn, feeding on the muddy margins of wetlands.

Familiar as the bristly plant that easily hooks on to our clothing as we walk through the countryside or do the gardening, cleavers uses its hooks to help it climb and to disperse its seeds.

This elegant wading bird is a rare visitor to the UK, though occasionally one or two of pairs will nest here.