The stiff, spiky and upright leaves and brown flowers of hard rush are a familiar sight of wetlands, riversides, dune slacks and marshes across England and Wales.

The small heath is the smallest of our brown butterflies and has a fluttering flight. It favours heathlands, as its name suggests, as well as other sunny habitats.

Brush through a wildflower meadow at the height of summer and you'll hear the tiny seeds of yellow-rattle rattling in their brown pods, hence its name.

The petals of the rare Lizard orchid's flowers form the head, legs and long tail of a lizard. They are greenish, with light pink spots and stripes, and smell strongly of goats! Spot this tall…

The rare Adonis blue can be spotted on sunny chalk grasslands throughout summer. Males are a dazzling sky-blue in colour, while females are duller brown.

The hairy-footed flower bee can be seen in gardens and parks in spring and summer, visiting tubular flowers like red dead-nettle and comfrey. As its name suggests, it has long, orange hairs on its…

The house sparrow is a familiar, streaky brown bird of towns, parks and gardens. Males sport a grey cap and black bib, the size of which indicates their status.

The whooper swan is a very rare breeding bird in the UK, but has much larger populations that spend winter here after a long journey from Iceland. It has more yellow on its yellow-and-black bill…