The Atlantic salmon spends most of its life at sea, but makes an epic journey back to the river or stream in which it hatched to spawn. Look out for it in freshwater rivers in the north and west…

The large white is a common garden visitor - look out for its brilliant white wings, tipped with black.

The easiest way to find out if the nocturnal and well-camouflaged nightjar is about is to listen out for its distinctive 'churring' call at dusk. A summer visitor, it is most numerous in…

With a torpedo-shaped body and long, narrow wings, the privet hawk-moth is a striking garden visitor. But the caterpillars really stand out: lime-green, with purple streaks and a black hook at the…

The bright blue, trumpet-shaped flowers of the marsh gentian contrast deeply with the pinks and purples of the wet heaths it inhabits. The New Forest holds a large population of this late-…

The graceful great crested grebe is a familiar sight on our lakes and reservoirs, and is well-known for its elaborate courtship dance, during which it rises vertically out of the water and shakes…

Hazel is a small tree of woodlands, grasslands and gardens that is regularly coppiced - the practice of cutting the stems of a tree to allow new shoots to grow. It is well known for its long,…

The thick topshell is a common sight on rocky shores in Wales and South West England.