Listen out for the cat-like, 'kee-yaa' calls of the buzzard as it soars high over farmland and woodland. Once suffering from severe persecution and pesticide poisoning, it has made a…

Perhaps the first sign that spring is just around the corner is the snowdrop poking its way through the frosted soil of a woodland, churchyard or garden. From January, look for its famous nodding…

The small, shaggy-furred whiskered bat roosts in all sorts of houses, old or modern. It is similar to the Brandt's bat and they often roost together, but in separate colonies. It feeds along…

The St Mark's fly is small, black and shiny. It is so-called because it emerges around St Mark's Day, April 25th. Large numbers of adults can be found in woodland edges, hedgerows,…

Saw-wort gets its common name from the serrated, saw-like edges to its leaves. It is a plant of unimproved hay meadows and woodland edges, its purple, thistle-like flowers appearing over summer.…

This seagrass species is a kind of flowering plant that lives beneath the sea, providing an important habitat for many rare and wonderful species.

Despite having the familiar sage-green leaves, Wood sage has very little scent, so is not a good cooking herb. It can be found on acidic soils on sand dunes, heaths and cliffs, and along woodland…

The brown rat has a bad reputation, but it mostly lives side-by-side with us without any problems. It can be seen in any habitat.

The grey partridge is an attractive bird that prefers the ground to pear trees! Found on farmland and grassland, it is under threat from loss of habitat.

The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…