Aquamarine

Badgers are the UK’s largest land predator and their black and white stripes make them very recognisable. 

Badgers live in large family groups in burrows under the ground called a ‘sett’. You know if a sett is lived in by how neat and tidy it is, with clean doorways marked with piles of used bedding (hay and leaves). 

There are two types of seals in the UK: the common seal and the grey seal. Common seals are the smaller of the two and are actually less common than grey seals!

Common seals are also known as harbour seals because they are found around sheltered shores and estuaries. When out of the water, they sometimes hold their body in a curved banana position, with their head and tail both in the air at the same time. 

Grey seals can be seen lying on beaches waiting for their food to go down. Their scientific name is Halichoerus grypus which means hook-nosed sea pig.

The kingfisher is a bird with bright blue and metallic copper. It lives near rivers and streams where is dives in to catch small fish.

When they are not sitting quietly on low-hanging branches over the water, Kingfishers live in burrow-like nests near lakes and other waterways, close to a perfect fishing spot!

There are a number of owl species in the UK, including the barn owl (pictured), which has a distinctive heart-shaped face. The little owl, meanwhile, likes to perch on poles or rocks, looking out for unsuspecting preys below.

The long-eared owl sports large 'ear tufts' on its head and lives in communal roosts of more than 20 birds. Owls are mostly nocturnal but the short-eared owl is unusual because it prefers to be out and about in the daytime.

The tawny owl is the largest common owl and makes the famous 'twit-twoo' call, actually made up of a 'ke-wick' sound from a female and an answering 'hoo-hoo-ooo' from a male.

59 species of butterfly can be found in the UK. This page on our website provides an introduction to 47 of them, such as the striking Adonis blue. This, the rarest of the blue butterflies, can be found on sunny chalk grasslands.

The green hairstreak is the UK's only green butterfly. The male purple emperor, a woodland species, has brilliant purple on its wings. 

The peacock butterfly, like the one in the picture, was given its name because of the markings on the wings, which look like peacock tail feathers