Blink and you may miss the fantastic kingfisher! It's often seen as a flash of blue flying low over a river.

This large, fluffy-looking moth is on the wing in July and August, but you might spot a caterpillar at almost any time of year.

The yew is a well-known tree of churchyards, but also grows wild on chalky soils. Yew trees can live for hundreds of years, turning into a maze of hollow wood and fallen trunks beneath dense…

The common green lacewing is a lime green, delicate insect, with translucent, intricately veined wings. It is common in gardens and parks, where it helps to control aphid pests.

This sponge is found on rocky shores around the UK and looks like a thick bready crust (if you use your imagination a bit!).

These moths can be seen flying on sunny days, but you're more likely to spot the fuzzy caterpillars crawling over paths.

A scarce tree of England and Wales, the large-leaved lime is the rarest of our native limes. It is tall and broad, and can be found in forests and parks, where it is frequently planted.

There are several species of spider that live in our wetlands, but the water spider is the only one that spends its life under the water. In its pond habitats, it looks silvery because of the air…

It's easy to see where this stunning bivalve got its name from - the bright orange tentacles emerging from the shell really do look like flames!

Listen out for the 'drumming' sound of a male snipe as it performs its aerial courtship display. It's not a call, but actually its tail feathers beating in the wind. Snipe live on…