Chichester’s arty side

I took Bea to Chichester for a shop so we went our separate ways, kept meeting up by chance, and finally met by design at the Bishop’s Kitchen by the Cathedral where an exhibition by the Southern Ceramic Group was showing.

We liked the work by guest artist Kate Hackett.

There were plenty of photo opportunities in the Cathedral area:

After an excellent light lunch at the Pallant Gallery (bubble & squeak with fried egg), we called in at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts, St Andrews Court and enjoyed one of the artists in the current exhibition, Frances Knight, who really appreciates light as seen in 

 

"Crillon Le Brave an Mt Ventoux late afternoon 2" in Provence:

Frances will be showing in the Arundel gallery trail 20-30th August, 2010.

We also bought some note cards from another artist, Tricia Baldwin.

Left and right side of Pallant Gallery entrance in brown ceramics

Front of Oxmarket Centre of Arts

South Harting butterflies

On Saturday I joined a very enjoyable walk led by Michael and Clare at South Harting . Tom found some Essex Skippers for us among the Small Skippers and also a tall Wych Elm with resident White-letter Hairstreaks. We spent 30 minutes watching the tree top waiting for the next sun burst between clouds. Every time the sun shone through the little fellas would fly up and a spiralling pair would argue about territory.

male Silver-washed Fritillary with Brown Argus

 female Silver-washed Fritillary

A pair of Silver-washed Fritillaries spiralled in a courtship dance. While they were resting I took a photo of the male and only noticed later that a Brown Argus had appeared in flight beside it. 

A hover fly also pestered a resting Common Blue. A couple of dozen species were recorded during the day:

Ringlet

 Large White

Gatekeeper

Red Admiral

Small Skipper

Large Skipper

Comma

Deadly Nightshade

View of the Isle of Wight

This morning we had a club dig near Findon. Good weather with slight shower in the morning. 

A stubble field produced nothing, and a pasture field provided a very worn  1890 Victoria halfpenny and a 1919 Penny in excellent condition. 

There were Cinnabar moth larvae on the Ragworts.

Vapourer on the wardrobe

It’s been a frustrating week as an old knee injury flared up last weekend which prevented me from getting out during the continuing good weather. Yesterday evening I was rewarded with a sighting of a very unusual caterpillar climbing up a wardrobe door. 

It has a pair of hair tufts at the front, two protruding from the sides, one black, one white and one at the rear. The hairs or setae are coated with toxins not to allow contact with skin.
Having identified it as a Vapourer Moth larva whose food is the leaves of any deciduous tree or bush, I found some willow branches and a large container. This morning it was busily chewing its way through a leaf, so I assume it approves of its new luxury apartment. The adult is a distinctive moth so I hope to see it through some of its life cycle. How it found its way into the flat is a mystery.

Griffon, George and Pewter Spoon at Wendover Green

On Sunday I headed up to Wendover, Bucks for a Weekend Wanderer's dig, a journey of nearly two hours. Since there has not been a club dig for five weeks I thought I’d give it a go. Recent beach finds have included small change on the upper beach and pre-decimal on the lower beach (1943 half crown, 1954 florin, 1958 shilling, 1916 and 1948 pennies).

My first find on leaving the car was a silver plated livery button with a Griffon on the front and legible makers marks on the reverse and an intact ring:

G & W BOGGETT & C

LONDON

ST MARTINS LANE

According to this internet source George & William Boggett made buttons with their imprint including “& Co” from 1838-42. Weight: 6.86 gm, 25.52 mm

My second find is probably a George halfpenny, as usual with no visible marks on either face.

Third find was a pewter spoon bowl, badly corroded with two cms of the handle still joined to the bowl. Probably 16/17^th century. Weight: 29gm, bowl: 35.85mm wide, 53.7mm long, broken handle: 17.4mm.

Finally on looking through my rubbish bag I found a possible iron spear tip.

There were butterflies around despite some drizzle and breeze – Meadow browns, Small tortoiseshell, Ringlet, Whites, Speckled wood.

Also a first – a pair of mating bumble bees joined at the tips of their abdomens, flying together until finally landing and getting on with business in the grass.

Essex Skippers and Chalkhill Blues at Castle Hill

I joined an excellent tour of Castle Hill Nature Reserve, Brighton. Tom Ottley lead us on a walk around this beautiful downland reserve on a breezy morning with plenty of sun to bring the butterflies out. The Chalkhill Blues were out (above).

 It was peak season for Six-spot Burnet moths

congressional activities were the order of the day for these Burnets

Scabius was a favourite flower for their activities

 

male False Oil  Beetle, Oedemera nobilis (female has normal sized hind femora)

many Small Coppers were seen

this pair were also in the mood

Small or Essex Skippers

Great Green Bush-cricket

Common blue

butterfly spotted

Peacock

Marbled white

Forester moth

Brown Argus underside

Brown Argus upper wing view

Chalkhill Blue underwing