Reedbed
Found between water and land, reedbeds are transitional habitats. They can form extensive swamps in lowland floodplains or fringe streams, rivers, ditches, ponds and lakes with a thin feathery…
Chwilio
Speckled wood butterfly - Vicky Nall
Chwilio
Little cuttlefish
This little cuttlefish really lives up to its name - it only reaches about 6cm long!
Grey seal
Have you ever seen the curious face of a grey seal bobbing in the waves when visiting the beach? Grey seals can be seen lying on beaches waiting for their food to go down. Sometimes they are…
Flat periwinkle
These little sea snails are found amongst the seaweed on rocky shores around much of the UK. They come in lots of different colours, from bright yellow to chequered brown!
My perspective
Ben grew up at the Naze paddling in the sea and looking for sharks’ teeth. After graduation, he returned to the landscape he loves to help local people experience the wonders of the natural world…
Plast Off! Beach Clean 2026
Some of our young volunteers reflect on yet another successful annual Plast Off Beach Clean and what the event means to them.
Farmland
Farmland can conjure up rural images of brown hares zig-zagging across fields, chattering flocks of finches and yellowhammers singing from thick, bushy hedges and field margins studded with…
Serrated wrack
This brown seaweed lives in the lower shore and gets its name from the serrated edges to its fronds.
Tufted duck
This comical little duck lives up to its name – look out for the black tuft of feathers on its head!
Nursery web spider
A common spider of heathland and grassland, the Nursery web spider has brown and black stripes running the length of its body. It is an active hunter, only using its silk to create a protective…
Great skua
A fierce pirate of the sea, the great skua is renowned for stealing fish from other seabirds and dive-bombing anyone that comes near its nests. It breeds on the Scottish Isles.
Kelp forests
Forests of kelp sway in shallow sunlit waters, offering shelter to a host of sea life from tiny worms to juvenile fish.