You are likely to spot the smooth newt in your garden or local pond. It breeds in water in summer and spends the rest of the year in grassland and woodland, hibernating over winter.
The nodding, pink-and-purple-chequered flowers of the snake's-head fritillary are said to resemble a snake, hence the name. Declining with the loss of our meadows, this delicate plant can be seen in spring.
It's easy to see where the snakelocks anemone got its name when you spot its flowing tentacles. But be careful when out rockpooling, those tentacles give a nasty sting!
Listen out for the 'drumming' sound of a male snipe as it performs its aerial courtship display. It's not a call, but actually its tail feathers beating in the wind. Snipe live on wet grassland, marshes and moorlands throughout the UK.
Only a few pairs of snow bunting breed here, so look out for this striking black-and-white bird in winter around Scotland, the North West and the East coast of England.
Perhaps the first sign that spring is just around the corner is the snowdrop poking its way through the frosted soil of a woodland, churchyard or garden. From January, look for its famous nodding, white flowers.
Soft brome is a tall, annual grass of roadside verges, waste ground and meadows, and is a 'weed' of arable land. It has long, grey-green leaves and loosely clustered flower spikes.
As its name suggests, the smooth stems of soft rush are thinner and more flexible than those of hard rush. It forms tufts in wetland habitats like wet woodlands, marshes, ditches and grasslands.
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.
