Richard Williamson's County Life Column

Both seemed the same size. One was a Sea King and other a Southern Hawker. Both had whirling wing propellers. Both had long bodies camouflaged with brown and green, with hints of RAF blue on their tails. Both were focused and intent on their missions.

But it was the anisoptera which held my attention. It cruised along 20ft above the road, turned this way and that over the heads of the shoppers and tourists, then shot off at top speed in the direction of the cathedral.

The anisopteras are the dragonflies which hold their wings rigidly at right angles to their bodies. They are swift and agile fliers, hence the name hawker.

All the others are zygopteras or damselflies. They fold their wings back over their bodies and have a more feeble and fluttering flight. But they are all hunters, with superb compound eyes like radar scanners and legs that form a bristly cage that grip their prey.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 6