Find out what flies after dark? Join us on Sunday 16th July, for a bat and moth evening jointly with Alton Natural History Society meeting at Froyle Church then on to the Wildlife Pond area, starting 8.30pm until late. Warm clothing and torch are useful and do leave or arrive at the pond area at whatever time you wish. There are nearly 2000 species of moth that occur in Hampshire. Moths and butterflies are useful indicator species for the health of our natural environment.

Please note that weather conditions greatly affect the number of moths flying so we hope for a warm evening, ideally with some cloud and not too windy. Some of the larger hawkmoths may not arrive until after 11pm.

What did we see? Under the trees of Gid Lane we soon started hearing and seeing bats with good aerobatic display of several Pipistrelles (both Common and Soprano) and the characteristic zipping noise as they found insects to eat. We also heard Noctule and bats from the Myotis family. At the wildlife pond area the temperature started at 14C and went down to 12C, so it was good that we saw as many moths as we did. The list of 19 species included Black Arches, Mother of Pearl, Nut-tree Tussock, Swallow-tailed and Ghost Moths.