The easiest way to find out if the nocturnal and well-camouflaged nightjar is about is to listen out for its distinctive 'churring' call at dusk. A summer visitor, it is most numerous in…

The tiny, brown-and-white sand martin is a common summer visitor to the UK, nesting in colonies on rivers, lakes and flooded gravel pits. It returns to Africa in winter.

As its name suggests, the house martin can be spotted nesting in the eaves of houses in our towns and villages. Its intricate mud nests take days to build and are often returned to and used in…

The fluffy, white heads of common cotton-grass dot our brown, boggy moors and heaths as if a giant bag of cotton wool balls has been thrown across the landscape!

The Common sexton beetle is one of several burying beetle species in the UK. An undertaker of the animal world, it buries dead animals like mice and birds, and feeds and breeds on the corpses.

A large hawker, the Common Hawker can be seen throughout the summer and into autumn. A fast-flying insect, it catches its prey mid-air. Look for it around ponds in the uplands of the north and…

Look for the small, pink, pea-shaped flowers of Common restharrow on chalk and limestone grasslands, and in coastal areas, during summer.

Once considered a weed of cornfields, the common poppy is now in decline due to intensive agricultural practices. It can be found in seeded areas, on roadside verges and waste ground, and in field…

Look for the small, white, star-shaped flowers of Common chickweed all year-round. Sometimes considered a 'weed', it is still a valuable food source for insects.