Britain's wildlife year

January Snowdrops and hazel catkins came and went very quickly in National Trust gardens and parks. A male goldeneye duck was seen displaying at the Bann estuary in Northern Ireland, months earlier than usual Photograph: Stephen Robson/NTPL

February A bumper month for insects with ladybirds, bumblebees and peacock butterflies all seen earlier than most years. Another advanced starter was frogs with spawn gracing many ponds in this traditionally chilly month Photograph: Oxford Scientific/Photolibrary/Getty

March A greater horseshoe bat. Late March saw the first bats of the year on the wing - much earlier than usual Photograph: JJ Kaczanow/BCT

April The greatest April on record. Most surprisingly were these green-winged orchids blooming two months ahead of schedule. Then the cinnabar moth was one month early. Adonis blue and marsh fritillary butterflies were also on the wing, radically early Photograph: Andrew Butler/NTPL

May The poor weather had a knock-on-effect for some of our favourite birds with blue tits, great tits, reed warbler, whitethroat and willow warbler (pictured) all experiencing lower than normal numbers Photograph: Jill Pakenham/BTO

June It was the best year for the large blue butterfly at the National Trust’s Collard Hill in Somerset since its re-introduction in 2000 with record numbers on the wing. Then the rains descended Photograph: National Trust

July July 2007 will be known as a veritable deluge. So wet, that mice invaded our houses in a big way – something they usually do only in winter. So cold, there was a dearth of biting flies such as clegs and mosquitoes (pictured). Generally, the summer was a nightmare for winged insects - which in turn led to a bad year for bats Photograph: Dr Sauer/Getty

August It was a great flowering year, with fields and especially downs unusually verdant and flowery due to the wet summer, which also meant that butterflies, bees and hoverflies were all very scarce in gardens Photograph: David Noton/NTPL

September Traditionally a bountiful month for fungi, full of fruiting bodies, but the lack of rain meant that few showed this year across National Trust properties. A late brood of the clouded yellow butterfly were also seen Photograph: Richard Allen

October Fieldfares and redwing (pictured) arrived early to the south of England and in unusually high numbers - probably as a result of cold weather further north. Basking sharks were spotted for the first time in the waters surrounding the Farne Islands – unusual because plankton is not normally found in the North Sea at this time of year Photograph: Jim Asher

November The mild weather continued to confuse wildlife with red admiral butterflies, dragonflies and wasps still being on the wing. A record number of little auks for the UK are seen off the Farne Islands with 29,000 spotted in one day alone Photograph: Jim Asher

December Perhaps not such an unusual year for one of the stars of Autumnwatch - the grey seal pups whose plight was highlighted during the 2007 broadcast actually had an average year. The mortality rate was 51%, compared to a 50% average Photograph: National Trust