A key species in the story of conservation, the avocet represents an amazing recovery of a bird once extinct in the UK. This pied bird, with its distinctive upturned bill, can now be seen on…

The vast, green mats that sometimes cover the surface of still water, such as ponds, flooded gravel pits and old canals, are actually Common duckweed. A tiny, single plant, it groups together to…

Despite its name, spurge laurel is not a laurel - it just looks like one! It has glossy, dark green leaves and black, poisonous berries, and can be found in woodlands in southern England, in…

The pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem. It likes chalk grassland, sand dunes, roadside verges and quarries…

A rare breeder in the UK, this sooty-coloured bird is as at home on an industrial site as it is on a rocky cliff face.

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.

One of our largest ducks, the shelduck is a handsome creature with a dark green head, red bill and chestnut-brown band across its white body. Look out for it around most of our coastline,…

This streaky brown bird is a winter visitor, occasionally found walking around the muddy margins of marshes.

The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…

This elegant wading bird is a rare visitor to the UK, though occasionally one or two of pairs will nest here.