A West Malvern man who has identified two rare species of dragonfly has written a book about the subject.

The Dragonflies of Herefordshire is the culmination of 20 years of research by Peter Garner.

Mr Garner, headteacher of Walkwood CE Middle School in Redditch, has spent every sunny weekend in pursuit of his unusual hobby.

His quest began when he realised there was no written record of the county's dragonflies.

"I set about visiting as many pools and stretches of river as I could, said Mr Garner.

Help and advice was provided by Mike Averill, author of Dragonflies of Worcestershire and unofficial recorder of dragonflies in the Midlands.

As a plant and bird recorder for the Malvern Hills Conservators, Mr Garner is no stranger to the study of nature.

So far, he has identified 27 different species of dragonfly in Herefordshire, including the downy emerald and scarce blue-tailed damselfly.

Mr Garner was only able to go dragonfly spotting on sunny days between April and October, as the insects do not fly in winter or during wet conditions.

Explaining the appeal of dragonflies, Mr Garner said: "They're wonderfully attractive insects and one sees them on nice sunny days at attractive, watery sites."

His favourite is the scarce blue-tailed damselfly.

"It's special to me because it's the smallest, the least obvious and the hardest to spot," he said. "It exists in wet, muddy patches and doesn't live at a pool or river, so it's very hard to find places where they are."

Mr Garner is now compiling a record of the county's plants.

Dragonflies of Herefordshire is distributed by the Herefordshire Biological Record Centre and costs £13.99. It is available at Beacon Books in Malvern and Ledbury Books & Maps, or by email at hbrc@herefordshire.gov.uk.