Oak Eggar & Blair's Mocha

Oak Eggar, Lasiocampa quercus

to view a gallery  with more photos, click here

I had some firsts last night on the balcony. The prize was an Oak Eggar, a magnificent 3.7cm moth which I have only prevviously seen zooming past in the field. Other notables were a Blair's Mocha, a Maiden's Blush, a Nut-Tree Tussock, a Saltmarsh Knot-horn and an Ox-tongue Conch. A total of 25 species were recorded. I still have moths from previous nights to sort out.

Blair's Mocha, Cyclophora puppillaria 

Maiden's Blush, Cyclophora punctaria

Bud Moth, Spilonota ocellana

Bulrush Wainscot, Nonagria typhae 

Cloaked Minor, Mesoligia furuncula

Common Grass-veneer, Agriphila tristella 

Common Rustic agg., Mesapamea secalis agg. 

Dingy Dowd, Blastobasis adustella

False Widow Spider, Steatoda nobilis

Hoverfly, Helophilus trivittatus

Iron Prominent, Notodonta dromedarius 

Knot Grass, Acronicta rumicis 

unidentified Lacewing

Light Brown Apple Moth, Epiphyas postvittana 

Lime-speck Pug, Eupithecia centaureata 

Marbled Beauty, Bryophila domestica

Marbled Green, Nyctobrya muralis

Marsh Dowd, Blastobasis rebeli

Nut-Tree Tussock, Colocasia coryli 

Oak Eggar, Lasiocampa quercus 

Oak Eggar, Lasiocampa quercus 

Ox-tongue Conch, Cochylis molliculana 

Saltmarsh Knot-horn, Ancylosis oblitella

Satin Grass-veneer, Crambus perlella

Square-spot Rustic, Xestia xanthographa 

Swallow Prominent, Pheosia tremula

Wax Moth , Galleria mellonella

Yponomeuta species

Portsmouth Corporation Tramways & Swears and Wells

My best find yesterday was a Portsmouth Corporation Tramways livery button lying on the surface. Also 14 buttons, musket ball, pistol ball, old 50p, 2 Victoria halfpennies, 1 Georgian halfpenny, a George V halfpenny, a stair rod bracket, rolled lead and an idENTICHIP tag. So a normal day's detecting - nothing too exciting. A flock of Canada geese took exception to our presence in their field and departed.

Portsmouth Corporation Tramways was officially renamed the ‘City of Portsmouth Passenger Transport Department’ on 14th July 1936, barely 4 months before the last tram ran. (from http://www.tramwaybadgesandbuttons.com/page148/page151/page220/page220.html)

Nne of the 4 hole copper button reads: Swears & Wells 192 Regent St. from research: Swears & Wells was a department store at 192 Regent Street in London’s West End, established in 1816 by Frederick Swears and Thomas William Wells. The company achieved high-standing as a leather and fur retailer and maker of children’s clothing. The store continued until at least the mid-1970s. These are photos of the Regent St store and another Art Deco shop front in the Spitalfields area.

Burnished Brass and a Roman nummus

Burnished Brass, Diachrysia chrysitis

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

Last night I had 17 moth species including 2 new ones: Scalloped Oak and Ash-bark Knot-horn. The prize was a Burnished Brass. 

  I'm having camera problems at the moment, the camera and flash suddenly don't like each other and the result is gross underexposure. The correction requires a high ISO. Having spent hours trying to figure out the problem and failing, I'm taking the outfit to local expert Tony at Camercal tomorrow morning.

  On Saturday I found 2 medieval artefacts and a small Roman coin, a GLORIA EXERCITVS nummus of the house of Constantine:

GLORIA EXERCITVS nummus

AD 335-41, 14mm diameter, weight 1g.

obverse: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG (Constantine the great Emperor)

reverse: GLORIA EXERCITVS (great army) two soldiers standing either side of two standards

similar to https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_B-1746

cast copper alloy mount with hook and loop, possibly from
a sword belt (post medieval 16th/17th century)

strap loop (Medieval 1350-1400)

Ash-bark Knot-horn, Euzophera pinguis 

Burnished Brass, Diachrysia chrysitis

Common Wainscot, Mythimna pallens 

Elder Pearl, Anania coronata

Flounced Rustic, Luperina testacea 

Garden Grass-veneer, Chrysoteuchia culmella

Iron Prominent, Notodonta dromedarius

Knot Grass, Acronicta rumicis 

Light Brown Apple Moth, Epiphyas postvittana 

Lime-speck Pug, Eupithecia centaureata 

Pearl Veneer, Agriphila straminella 

Peppered Moth, Biston betularia 

Rush Veneer, Nomophila noctuella

Scalloped Oak, Crocallis elinguaria 

Scarce Footman, Eilema complana

Shuttle-shaped Dart male, Agrotis puta

Shuttle-shaped Dart female, Agrotis puta

Twenty-plume Moth, Alucita hexadactyla