Kingfisher

Alcedo atthis

Family: Alcedinidae (Kingfishers)

Habitat: Lakes and reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams, estuaries, chalk streams, reedbeds and upland flushes, fens and swamps.

Size: Length 16 centimetres (6.3 in). Wingspan 25 cm (9.8 in).

Food: Fish and aquatic insects.

Voice: Very distinctive high-pitched whistles of tzee or tzee-tee.

Season: All year round. All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Flight is fast, direct and usually low over water.

Green Woodpecker

Picus viridis

Family: Picidae (Woodpeckers and allies)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, grasslands, heathlands and woodland.

Food: Ants.

Voice: Distinctive ringing laugh yah, yah, yah.

Season: All year round. All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Green woodpeckers spend a lot of time eating ants on the ground. They breed in oval holes they peck in dead wood.

Tawny Owl

Strix aluco

Family: Strigidae (True owls)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, woodland, lowland mixed deciduous, coniferous woods and deciduous woods.

Size: Length 37-46 cm (15-18 in). Wingspan 81-105 cm (32-41 in)

Food: Small mammals and rodents, small birds, frogs, fish, insects and worms.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

Family: Rallidae (Rails)

Habitat: Lakes and reservoirs, ponds and rivers and streams.

Size: Length 30-38 cm (12-15 in). Wingspan 50-62 cm (20-24 in).

Food: Water plants, seeds, fruit, grasses, insects, snails, worms, small fish, small rodents, amphibians and eggs.

Season: All year round.

Long-tailed Tit

Aegithalos caudatus

Family: Aegithalidae (Long-tailed tits)

Habitat: Farmland, gardens and parks, woodland, hedgerows and scrub.

Food: Insects throughout the year. Seeds in autumn and winter.

Voice: See-see-see.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Outside the breeding season they form compact flocks of up to 30 birds in family groups - parents and offspring.

Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

Family: Paridae (Tits)

Habitat: Woodland, gardens and parks and hedgerows.

Size: Length 12 cm (4.7 in) Wingspan 18 cm (7.1 in).

Food: Insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.

Voice: Tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee-sit. Scolding churr.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Frequently family flocks join up with other tits in the search for food. Acrobatic feeders. They usually nest in tree holes.

Great Tit

Parus major

Family: Paridae (Tits)

Habitat: Gardens and parks and woodland.

Food: Insects, seeds and nuts. Small hibernating bats.

Voice: Up to 40 calls and songs such as chink, and teacher-teacher.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Great tits solve problems with insight learning, such as breakinginto milk bottles to obtain cream, and using conifer needles to extract larvae from a treehole.

Robin

Erithacus rubecula

Family: Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, meadows, orchards and woodland.

Size: 12.5-14.0 cm (5.0-5.5 inches)

Food: Worms, insects and berries.

Voice: Warbling song and a harsh tick.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Often territorial, hops rapidly. A friendly bird that will sometimes feed from the hand of someone who is familiar.

Willow Warbler

Phylloscopus trochilus

Family: Phylloscopidae (Leaf and wing warblers)

Habitat: Woodland, scrub and upland birchwoods.

Size: Length 11-12.5 cm (4.3-4.9 in).

Food: Small insects, spiders, fruit and berries.

Voice: Repetitive descending whistle. Hoo-eet call.

Season: Early April to late September. April till September.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Migrating up to 12,000 km, one of the longest migrations of any for a bird of its size.

Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Family: Motacillidae (Pipits and wagtails)

Habitat: Marsh, meadows, rivers and streams and towns and gardens.

Food: Insects.

Voice: Trilling song. Chee-seek call.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Frequently wags its tail hence the name.

Blackcap

Sylvia atricapilla

Family: Sylviidae (Warblers and allies)

Habitat: Gardens and parks and woodland.

Food: Insects and berries.

Voice: Melodious warble. Sharp tack call.

Season: Early April to late October. Some winter in the UK.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Also known as northern nightingales because of their wonderful melodious song.

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

Family: Fringillidae (Finches)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, grasslands, woodland and hedgerows.

Food: Insects and seeds.

Voice: The fink call of the chaffinch gives the finch family its name.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Prefers open woodland and spends a lot of time foraging on the ground. One of the most colourful of the finches.

Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

Family: Anatidae (Swans, ducks and geese)

Habitat: Coastal, lakes and reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams, wetlands and freshwaters and coastal grazing marsh.

Food: Seeds, acorns and berries, plants, insects and shellfish.

Voice: ♂ Nasal call, and a high-pitched whistle. ♀ Quack.

Season: All year round. All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

The mallard is a dabbling duck that unusually interbreeds with ducks such as the American black duck, the northern pintail and others leading to various hybrids.

Coot

Fulica atra

Family: Rallidae (Rails)

Habitat: Lakes and reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams, wetlands and freshwaters, estuaries, chalk streams, lowland fen, reedbeds and upland flushes, fens an

Size: Length 32-42 cm (13-17 in). Weight 585-1,100 g (1.290-2.425 lb).

Food: Vegetation, seeds, fruit, snails, eggs and insect larvae.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Aggressive and strongly territorial during the breeding season.

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Family: Anatidae (Swans, ducks and geese)

Habitat: Lakes and reservoirs, farmland, grassland and estuaries.

Size: Length 75-110 cm (30-43 in). Wingspan 127-185 cm (50-73 in).

Food: Mainly green vegetation, grains, aquatic plants. Rarely insects and small fish.

Voice: Loud honk.

Season: All year round. All Year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Introduced to Britain in the late 17th century in St James's Park.

Grey Heron

Ardea cinerea

Family: Ardeidae (Herons)

Habitat: Lakes and reservoirs, ponds, rivers and streams, wetlands and freshwaters and estuaries.

Size: Height 1 m (3 ft 3 in).

Food: Fish, small birds, small mammals and amphibians.

Voice: Far carrying kaark.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Typically wades in shallow waters looking for fish and amphibians.

Sparrowhawk

Accipiter nisus

Family: Accipitridae (Hawks and eagles)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, grasslands and woodland.

Food: Mainly small birds. Sometimes bats.

Voice: Sharp keck-keck-keck.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Males fly up and dive down again to impress females. The female is notably bigger than the male and so can catch larger prey.

Kestrel

Falco tinnunculus

Family: Falconidae (Falcons and allies)

Habitat: Farmland, woodland, grassland and heathland.

Size: Length 32-39 cm (13-15 in). Wingspan 65-82 cm (26-32 in).

Food: Small mammals and birds.

Voice: Piercing Kee-kee-kee.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Kestrels hover at a height of about 10-20 metres either by flying into the wind or by soaring using ridge lift before swooping down on their prey.

Buzzard

Buteo buteo

Family: Accipitridae (Hawks and eagles)

Habitat: Coastal, farmland, grassland, heathland and woodland.

Size: Length 40-58 cm (16-23 in). Wingspan 109-136 cm (43-54 in).

Food: Small mammals, birds, carrion, earthworms and large insects.

Voice: Cat like mewing.

Season: All year round.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Takes off with distinctive slow wing beats, often circling or hovering. Frequently uses fence posts or similar as look-outs.

Meadow Brown

Maniola jurtina

Family: Nymphalidae (Brush-footed)

Habitat: Grasslands, meadows, woodland, arable field margins and hedgerows.

Size: Length 25 mm (1 in).

Food: Grasses (larva). Thistles, Blackberries, Daisies, Cow Parsip, etc (adult).

Flight: Early May to late September.

Males are less colourful and more active and range furtherthan the females. Winter passed as a small bright green caterpillar.

Peacock

Aglais io

Family: Nymphalidae (Brush-footed)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, grasslands, meadows and woodland.

Size: Length 30 mm.

Food: Stinging nettles. Buddleia, willows, dandelions, wild marjoram, danewort, hemp agrimony, and clover.

Flight: Early June to late September. March after hibernation.

Fast flying butterfly. The eye spots on its wings scare predators.

Comma

Polygonia c-album

Family: Nymphalidae (Brush-footed)

Habitat: Woodland, gardens and parks and hedgerows.

Size: Length 24 mm. Wingspan 50-64 mm.

Food: Hops, stinging nettle and elm.

Flight: Early April to late September.

The comma is given its name by a white comma shaped mark on the underside of its hind wing.

Clouded Yellow

Colias croceus

Family: Pieridae (Yellows-and-Whites)

Habitat: Grasslands, meadows and sea cliffs.

Size: Length 24 mm (0.9 in)

Food: Clovers, lucerne (alfalfa), vetches et al.

Flight: Early April to late October. April to October.

Fast-flying butterfly that winters as a caterpillar.

Banded Demoiselle

Calopteryx splendens

Family: Calopterygidae (Demoiselles)

Habitat: Rivers and streams.

Size: Length 48 mm. Wingspan 60-65 mm.

Food: Insects.

Flight: Early April to late September. April to September.

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Whereas the male is metallic blue, the female is a brilliant metallic green with tinted green wings with a tiny white spot near the tip.

Common Spotted Orchid

Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Family: Orchidaceae (Orchids)

Habitat: Gardens and parks, marsh, meadows, woodland, sand dunes and hedgerows.

Size: Height 15 to 60 cm.

Flowering Period: Early July to late August.

Very variable plant height andflower colour, morphology and scent.

The flower colour varies from white to pale purple with purple spots, a symmetrical pattern of dark purple loops or dots and dashes.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Family: Asparagaceae

Habitat: Woodland and hedgerows.

Size: Height 50 cm (20 in). Flower 14-20 mm (0.55-0.79 in)

Flowering Period: Early April to late June. April till June.

Particularly associated with ancient woodland.

The seeds are black, and germinate on the soil surface.

Cowslip

Primula veris

Family: Primulaceae

Habitat: Gardens and parks, grasslands and woodland.

Size: Height 25 cm (10 in).

Flowering Period: All year round.

Other names include cowslip primrose, cuy lippe, herb peter, paigle, peggle, key flower, key of heaven, fairy cups, petty mulleins, crewel, buckles, palsywort, and plumrocks.

The flowers cluster 10-30 blooms on a single stem

Ox-eye Daisy

Leucanthemum vulgare

Family: Compositae (Daisy)

Habitat: Grasslands and meadows.

Size: Height 90 cm (35.4 in).

Pollinator: Flies.

Scent: Subtle scent that attracts flies.

Flowering Period: Early June to late August.

A perennial herb also called dog daisy, moon daisy, and oxe-eye daisy.

The un-opened flower buds can be marinated.