The Marsh helleborine is a beautiful orchid of fens, wet grassland and dune slacks. Growing in profusion in places, look for reddish stems and white-and-pink flowers.

The Welsh poppy is a plant of damp and shady places, roadsides and hillsides. It is also a garden escapee. It flowers over summer, attracting nectar-loving insects.

A familiar garden bird, the great tit can be seen around bird tables and feeders, as well as in woodlands and parks. Listen out for its shrill song that sounds just like a bicycle pump being used…

Holly is a much-loved evergreen tree - its shiny, spiky leaves and bright red berries being a favourite in Christmas decorations. Found in all kinds of habitats, it provides an important winter…

This small finch nests on moorlands and coastal crofts, spending the winter on the coast. The UK population has declined dramatically.

A low-growing plant of sand dunes, heaths and grassy places, Common centaury is in bloom over summer. Look for clusters of pretty, pink, five-petalled flowers.

A notoriously poisonous plant, hemlock produces umbrella-like clusters of white flowers in summer. It can be found in damp places, such as ditches, riverbanks and waste ground.

As its name suggests, Water dock likes damp places, such as the egdes of canals, ponds and rivers. It is a tall plant with large, greenish flower spikes.

Despite being a little shy, these amazing marine mammals can be spotted close to shore in shallow waters. If you do get close, keep an eye out for the loud ‘chuff’ noise they make as they come to…

Rare summer visitors, honey buzzards breed in open woodland where they feed on the nests and larvae of bees and wasps.