Piddocks are a boring bivalve. No, we don't mean dull... we mean that it bores into soft rock, creating a burrow. In fact, they're the opposite of dull - they glow in the dark!

The yellow wagtail can be spotted running about, chasing insects on lowland damp marshes and meadows during summer. As its name suggests, it does wag its tail!

As the name suggests, this beautiful brown butterfly is most common in Scotland, though it can also be seen in northern England.

Forming mats of straight, bright green stems, Common spike-rush does, indeed, look like lots of tightly clustered 'spikes' near the water's edge of our wetland habitats.

Red-necked grebes occasionally attempt to nest in the UK, but they're more often seen as winter visitors to sheltered coasts.

The Broad centurion, or 'Green soldier fly', is one of our most common soldier flies, and is often found in gardens. It has hairy eyes and a metallic blue or bronze body. It is an…

Great reedmace is familiar to many of us as the archetypal 'bulrush'. Look for its tall stems, sausage-like, brown flower heads and green, flat leaves at the water's edge in our…

This hefty diving bird is a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be seen around the coast or occasionally on large inland lakes.

This well-camouflaged woodpecker used to be a common breeding bird in Britain, but is now only likely to be seen passing through on migration.

Found around our coasts during the breeding season, the large Sandwich tern can be spotted diving into the sea for fish such as sandeels. It nests in colonies on sand and shingle beaches, and…

Parsley fern lives up to its name - the pale green fronds form in clusters among rocks and look just like parsley. Look out for it in upland areas, particularly in Wales and Cumbria.