This large shieldbug lives up to its name, bristling with long pale hairs. It's a common sight in parks, hedgerows and woodland edges in much of the UK.

The bright yellow daffodils that adorn our roadsides and parks are likely to be garden varieties. Head to a woodland or damp meadow in North or South West England, or Wales, to see a true wild…

This secretive bird is a member of the rail family, related to coots and moorhens. The breeding call, a rasping rattle, is given mostly at night, sometimes for hours on end.

The stiff, spiky and upright leaves and brown flowers of hard rush are a familiar sight of wetlands, riversides, dune slacks and marshes across England and Wales.

The melodious song of the nightingale is the most likely sign of this bird being about. Shy and secretive, it sings from dense scrub and woodland, day and night.

A delicate, small plant of woodlands and hedgerows, wood-sorrel has distinctive, trefoil leaves and white flowers with purple veins; both fold up at night.

An inconspicuous tree for much of the year, the Wild service tree comes to life in spring, when it displays pretty, white blossom, and autumn, when its Maple-like leaves turn bright crimson.

Like many of our farmland birds, the yellowhammer has declined in number in recent years. Spot this bright yellow bird singing from the top of a bush or fence, or in a mixed-species flock in…

Look for common toadflax on waste ground and grassland, and along roadside verges and hedgerows. Its yellow-and-orange flowers are tightly packed on a tall spike and have distinctive 'spurs…

This elegant wading bird is a rare visitor to the UK, though occasionally one or two of pairs will nest here.