Great crested newt
With its prominent, wavy crest, the great crested newt, also known as the 'warty newt', looks like a mini dinosaur! This protected species favours clean ponds during the breeding season…
With its prominent, wavy crest, the great crested newt, also known as the 'warty newt', looks like a mini dinosaur! This protected species favours clean ponds during the breeding season…
The hooded crow was thought to be the same species as the carrion crow, but they have now been separated. Less widespread than its cousin, look for it in North Scotland, Northern Ireland and the…
The Holm oak is an introduced species that has been widely planted near the coast and in parkland. It is self-seeding in the south of the UK. Its young leaves are spiny like Holly leaves, and it…
The appearance of semi-circular holes in the leaves of your garden plants is a sure sign that the patchwork leaf-cutter bee has been at work. It is one of a number of leaf-cutter bee species…
One of the UK’s smallest and most delicate sea snails and an absolute favourite find for avid shell collectors when washed upon the shore empty!
The sea hare looks like a sea slug – but in fact has an internal shell. They can be up to 20cm long but are usually much shorter.
The Alcathoe bat was 'discovered' in the UK in 2010 when it was confirmed as a separate species to the very similar whiskered and Brandt's bats. Little is known about its range and…
Sea-buckthorn is a spiny, thicket-forming shrub of sand dunes. It's native to the east coast of England but considered an invasive species elsewhere. It is most obvious in autumn when it is…
The uncontainable nature of wildlife is perhaps clearest in brownfield sites – previously developed land that is not currently in use. The crumbling concrete of abandoned factories, disused power…
Also known as the brown crab, this large crab is found around all UK shores and is identifiable by the distinctive pie-crust edge to its brown shell.
Introduced from Japan in the 19th century, Japanese knotweed is now an invasive non-native plant of many riverbanks, waste grounds and roadside verges, where it prevents native species from…
The fearsome-looking hornet may not be a well-loved insect, but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp. It is also an important pollinator and a predator of species that feed on…