A clever mimic, the wasp beetle is black-and-yellow and moves in a jerky, flight-like fashion - fooling predators into thinking it is actually a more harmful common wasp. Look for it in hedgerows…

From spring, look out for the beautiful, speckled gold-and-black breeding plumage of the golden plover. It can be found in its upland moorland breeding grounds from May to September, moving to…

This huge gull can be seen around most of the UK's coasts in summer, with some venturing inland in winter.

Golden banks of common rock-rose make a spectacular sight on our chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. A creeping shrub, it is good for bees, moths and butterflies.

Creeping buttercup is our most familiar buttercup - the buttery-yellow flowers are like little drops of sunshine peppering garden lawns, parks, woods and fields.

Found around our coasts during the breeding season, the little tern is a diminutive seabird. Despite its size, it performs remarkable aerial courtship displays.

One of our most common butterflies, the meadow brown can be spotted on grasslands, and in gardens and parks, often in large numbers. There are four subspecies of meadow brown.

Our smallest breeding seabird, the storm petrel is barely larger than a house martin! They mostly nest among rocks or in burrows on small offshore islands.

The yellow, star-like flowers of bog asphodel brighten up our peat bogs, damp heaths and moors in early summer, attracting a range of pollinating insects.

A fierce predator of small fish and flying insects, the brown trout is widespread in our freshwater rivers. It is has a golden body, flanked with pale-ringed, dark spots.