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.

The turnstone can be spotted fluttering around large stones on rocky and gravelly shores, flipping them over to look for prey. It can even lift rocks as big as its own body! Although a migrant to…

Sea potatoes may have a funny name, but they are perfectly adapted for life in the sand. They are a type of sea urchin that live in a burrow in the sand, feeding on dead animals and plants using…

A regular in gardens, hunting around compost heaps and under stones, the brown centipede is a common minibeast. Despite its name, it has 15 pairs of legs - one on each segment of its body.

Ivy is one of our most familiar plants, seen climbing up trees, walls, and along the ground, almost anywhere. It is a great provider of food and shelter for all kinds of animals, from butterflies…

Found in compost heaps and under stones in gardens, the White-legged snake millipede is a common minibeast. Despite its name, it has about 100 legs. It is an important recycler of nutrients,…

The broad-bordered bee hawk-moth does, indeed, look like a bee! A scarce moth, mainly of Central and Southern England, it feeds on the wing and can be seen during spring and summer.

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.

The exotic and beautiful swallowtail is the UK's largest butterfly. A strong flier, residents can be spotted over wetlands in Norfolk during summer. Migrants occasionally appear in southern…