Their empty, delicate pink or yellow shells can often be found washed up on beaches, but the animals themselves live buried in the sand all around the coasts of the UK.

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.

A most familiar seashore inhabitant, the common starfish truly lives up to its name in UK seas and rockpools!

The mountain hare lives in the Scottish Highlands and the north of England. They are renowned for turning white in winter to match their upland surroundings.

This comical little duck lives up to its name – look out for the black tuft of feathers on its head!

A common tree, ash is familiar to many of us for its autumnal bunches of winged seeds, called 'keys'. It can be found in woodlands and prefers damp and fertile soils.

Often confused with the larger but similarly shaped lion’s mane jellyfish, the blue jellyfish can be colourless when young and develop a striking blue-purple bell as it matures.

A scrambling plant, Bush vetch has lilac-blue flowers. It is a member of the pea family and can be seen along woodland edges and roadside verges, and on scrubland and grassland.

In early spring, listen out for the 'chiff chaff chiff chaff' song of the appropriately named chiffchaff. It can be heard in woodland, scrub, parks and gardens across the UK.

Famed for its tapping in the middle of the night, supposedly heralding tragedy, the deathwatch beetle is a serious wood-boring pest. In houses, their tunnelling can cause major damage.

With its familiar features, the Field pansy is a delicate version of a garden favourite. Usually creamy-yellow in colour, it can be seen in fields and on roadside verges and waste ground.