"Old Lady's" night out in Y Drenewydd/Newtown 29/08/2025. In association with Butterfly Conservation.

 A moth group event was held on Friday night for Ponthafren, in their gardens. The property is situated on the north bank of the Afon Hafren/River Severn, the habitat being a terraced mixture of garden planting, small and large deciduous trees with wildlife, food production and well-being in mind.

Ponthafren situation. PMcGregor

Ponthafren https://www.ponthafren.org.uk/ established in 1994, is a mental health charity "providing a caring community, offering support to those in need and to promote positive mental health and well-being for all".

The charity was approached earlier this year to look at opportunities for connecting people with nature, in this case with moths.

An immediately positive response to this resulted in the very successful event on Friday night. 

A lovely and much appreciated group meal was provided before the event.

15 attendees of mixed age received a brief introduction to moths with many questions being asked.

The base was located in the outdoor shelter in the garden and traps were located on paths along the steep terracing from the veg garden at the top down to the riverside.

The sky cleared at dusk causing an initial chill in the air but the weather remained calm and dry.

A quick group tour around the traps produced a Large Yellow Underwing, Angle Shades and Copper Underwing agg. These were taken back to the table for techniques on identification and then attendees were free to collect moths from the traps. More moths were soon brought in with a pleasing Brimstone Moth and Dusky Thorn.

Brimstone Moth. P McGregor

Dusky Thorn. P McGregor

During the session, the initially disconcerting sound of loud wing flutterings amongst the trees down by the river revealed to be no less than nine Old Lady moths, much admired once one specimen was safely potted up and inspected back at the table!

A noteworthy micro, Dichrorampha acuminatana was also recorded during the three hour session.

Dichrorampha acuminatana. P McGregor

A total of 19 species were recorded, four being micro. The full list is available HERE .

A big thank you to Ponthafren for hosting and catering. Thank you to Butterfly Conservation for the provision of event insurance. Thank you to Peter Williams, County Recorder for help with identification. Finally, a big thank you to the effort and enthusiasm of all whom attended.

Phil.