As its name suggests, Red bartsia does have a red tinge to its stem, leaves and small flowers. Look for it on roadside verges, railway cuttings and waste ground in summer.

The spiny spider crab lives up to its name in every way! Their distinctive spiny shells are often found washed up on beaches.

The large, dark grey water shrew lives mostly in wetland habitats. It's a good swimmer that hunts for aquatic insects and burrows into the banks.

These winter visitors are close relatives of the chaffinch and can often be found in the same flocks, where their white rump and nasal calls give them away.

The common spangle gall wasp produces a small, disc-shaped growth, or 'gall', on the undersides of oak leaves. Inside the gall, the larvae of the wasp feed on the host tissues, but cause…

Common whitebeam is not a common tree, despite its name. It can be found growing wild in a variety of habitats, but is also planted in towns and gardens. Look for shiny, oval leaves with white…

So-named for the silvery-white appearance of its leaves, the white willow can be seen along riverbanks, around lakes and in wet woodlands. Like other willows, it produces catkins in spring.