Their empty, delicate pink or yellow shells can often be found washed up on beaches, but the animals themselves live buried in the sand all around the coasts of the UK.

Red dead-nettle does not sting. It displays dense clusters of pinky-red flowers in whorls around its stem, and can be found on disturbed ground, such as roadside verges.

A ferocious and agile predator, the green tiger beetle hunts spiders, ants and caterpillars on heaths, grasslands and sand dunes. It is one of our fastest insects and a dazzling metallic green…

The Wild strawberry produces miniature, edible versions of the juicy red fruits we so enjoy. Gathering wild food can be fun, but it's best to do it with an expert - come along to a Wildlife…

Look out for the feathery leaves of Spiked water-milfoil just below the surface of streams, ditches, lakes and ponds; its red flowers emerge from the water in summer. It provides shelter for a…

The great diving beetle is a large and voracious predator of ponds and slow-moving waterways. Blackish-green in colour, it can be spotted coming to the surface to replenish the air supply it…

The little ringed plover first nested in the UK in 1938, but has since moved in happily! It has taken advantage of an increase in man-made flooded gravel pits, reservoirs and quarries that provide…

Water mint grows in damp places and has aromatic leaves that can be used to flavour food and drink. Gathering wild food can be fun, but it's best to do it with an expert - come to a Wildlife…

This small, white heron is an increasingly common sight in parts of the UK as it spreads north from continental Europe.

One of our largest soldier beetles, often found on flowers where they hunt other insects.

This enormous water beetle is as rare as it is impressive.