The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…

You are likely to spot the smooth newt in your garden or local pond. It breeds in water in summer and spends the rest of the year in grassland and woodland, hibernating over winter.

Wild privet is a shrub of hedgerows, woodlands and scrub, but is also a popular garden-hedge plant. It has white flowers in summer and matt-black berries in winter that are very poisonous.

This little fish is found in rockpools during the summer months and has a clever adaptation that stops it being swept away by strong waves - their pelvic fins are fused to form a sucker that it…

The much-loved mallard is our most familiar duck, found across town and country. If you're feeding the ducks please don't feed them bread - it's not good for them! Instead, they…

These non-native limpets arrived from America in the 19th century and are now widespread in the UK. They form stacks and have a specially adapted shell which, when flipped upside down, looks like…