Superhuman salamander

Peek over the parapet of a bridge just as daylight bleeds into dusk, gazing down through the clear layers of a shallow river or chalk stream, and you may glimpse the shadowy, serpentine form of an eel

It was soft, rubbery and lubricious, a humongous earthworm to the untrained eye. I was pretty happy with my find until the joy of the moment was momentarily ruined when the ‘worm’ turned. It opened it

Moles are strange. they have evolved to become so highly specialised and attuned to a particular way of life that they are, for the most part, out of sight. Underground, they live in a fossorial world

Found across heathland, moorland, woodland and grassland, the common lizard can be seen basking in sunny spots

The best of the season to inspire and admire

A sturdy bonsai freshwater swashbuckler, the spiny stickleback is often the first fish we catch as children