The song thrush is a familiar garden visitor that has a beautiful and loud song. The broken shells of their blue, spotty eggs can often be found under a hedge in spring.

The ringed plover is a small wader that nests around the coast, flooded gravel pits and reservoirs. It is similar to the little ringed plover, but is a little larger, has an orange bill and legs,…

The wayfaring-tree is a small tree of hedgerows, woods, scrub and downland. It displays creamy-white flowers in spring and red berries in autumn, which ripen to black and are very poisonous.

A well-travelled migrant, the painted lady arrives here every summer from Europe and Africa. This beautiful orange-and-black butterfly regularly visits gardens.

The stinging nettle is a familiar and common plant, often firmly rooted in our memories after our first, hands-on experience - a prickling irritation that's not forgotten easily!

Flowering in spring, the cylindrical, densely packed flower spikes of Sweet vernal-grass are easily spotted in a meadow. It also tastes of sweet vanilla and was once a favourite 'chewing…

Aspen is a slender poplar tree that can be spotted on heathland and in woodlands, particularly in Scotland. It displays hanging catkins in spring and its fluttering leaves turn vibrant yellow in…

The nodding, pink-and-purple-chequered flowers of the snake's-head fritillary are said to resemble a snake, hence the name. Declining with the loss of our meadows, this delicate plant can be…

Look for the pretty, star-shaped, white flowers of Lesser stitchwort in woodlands and meadows, and along hedgerows and roadside verges in spring. Its flowers are smaller than those of Greater…

The bar-tailed godwit winters in the UK in the thousands; look for it around estuaries like the Thames and Humber. In spring, the males display arresting breeding plumage, with brick-red heads,…

As its name suggests, the birch shieldbug can be found feeding on silver birch, and sometimes hazel, in mixed woodland. Adults hibernate over winter, emerging in spring to lay their eggs.