The serotine is one of the first bats to appear at night and can be seen around lamp posts chasing moths, or at treetop height. It likes to roost and hibernate in old buildings in the south of the…

Swifts spend most of their lives flying – even sleeping, eating and drinking – only ever landing to nest. They like to nest in older buildings in small holes in roof spaces.

The tiny wren, with its typically cocked tail, is a welcome and common visitor to gardens across town and countryside. It builds its domed nests in sheltered bushes and rock crevices.

A common spider of heathland and grassland, the Nursery web spider has brown and black stripes running the length of its body. It is an active hunter, only using its silk to create a protective…

The song thrush is a familiar garden visitor that has a beautiful and loud song. The broken shells of their blue, spotty eggs can often be found under a hedge in spring.

Like many of our birds of prey, the peregrine falcon was so persecuted, numbers fell dramatically. Thankfully, this super-speedy flyer is now making a comeback, particularly in our towns, where it…

Considered a gardener’s best friend, hedgehogs will happily hoover up insects roaming in vegetable beds. Famously covered in spines, hedgehogs like to eat all sorts of bugs and crunchy beetles.…

Hazel is a small tree of woodlands, grasslands and gardens that is regularly coppiced - the practice of cutting the stems of a tree to allow new shoots to grow. It is well known for its long,…

Shepherd's purse is often considered a 'weed'. It produces a lot of seeds and can be found on cultivated and disturbed land, such as arable fields, tracks and gardens.

The bar-tailed godwit winters in the UK in the thousands; look for it around estuaries like the Thames and Humber. In spring, the males display arresting breeding plumage, with brick-red heads,…