Hairy bitter-cress is an edible weed of rocky places, walls, gardens and cultivated ground. 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 small holly blue in your garden or local park. It is the first blue butterfly to emerge in spring, and a second generation appears in summer. The caterpillars are fond of holly…

A classic fern of woodlands across the UK, the male-fern is also a great addition to any garden. It grows impressive stands from underground rhizomes, dying back in autumn.

Heather is also called 'ling'. Look for it on our heaths, moors and bogs, where its delicate, loosely arranged pink flowers attract all kinds of nectar-loving insects.

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…

A much-loved garden bird, the blackbird is famous for its harmonious song. In winter, our resident birds are joined by migrants from Scandinavia and the Baltics.

A winter visitor, the well-travelled Bewick's swan is the smallest of our swans. It has more black on its yellow-and-black bill than the whooper swan. Look out for it around Eastern England…

The fearsome-looking hornet may not be a well-loved insect, but it is actually much less aggressive than the common wasp. It is also an important pollinator and a predator of species that feed on…

Named for its three bull-like horns, the minotaur beetle is a large dung beetle found on grassland and heathland. Adults drag dung back to their nests for their larvae to feed on.

This well-camouflaged wader is a winter visitor to the UK, where it can be seen feeding on wetlands with a distinctive bobbing motion.