As its name suggests, the birch shieldbug can be found feeding on silver birch, and sometimes hazel, in mixed woodland. Adults hibernate over winter, emerging in spring to lay their eggs.

The grey long-eared bat certainly lives up to its name - its ears are nearly as long as its body! It mainly forages over grassland and meadows, but is very rare in the UK.

Wasps are well-known, and unfortunately not very well-loved! But give these black and yellow guys a chance, as they are important pollinators and pest controllers.

The Black-tailed skimmer is a narrow-bodied dragonfly that can be seen flying low over the bare gravel and mud around flooded gravel pits and reservoirs. It is on the wing from May to August.

A bright red beetle, with black legs and knobbly antennae, the red-headed cardinal beetle lives up to its name. Look for it in woodland, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens over summer.

The fluffy, white seed heads of traveller's-joy give it the evocative, alternative names of 'old man's beard' and 'Father Christmas'. A climbing plant, it can be seen…

This tiny wading bird is most often seen in autumn, feeding on the muddy margins of wetlands.

This streaky brown bird is a summer visitor to Britain, favouring open woodlands in the north and west.

The Alder fly is a blackish invertebrate, with delicately veined wings that it folds over its body like a tent. It can be found near ponds and slow-flowing rivers; the larvae living in the silt at…