Small Ranunculus

During a socially-distanced visit to the garden of one of our off-spring on the Berryfields estate west of Aylesbury, Bucks yesterday morning I noticed a moth resting on the edge of the patio doors.  This proved to be Small Ranunculus, a moth I rarely find and haven't seen anywhere since 2016.  It reminded me just how "small" it is - about the size of a Marbled Minor.  BC's Moth Atlas tells us that it became extinct in the UK in the 1920s but recolonized just before the millennium.  We do now have quite a few records for Bucks (around 130 from 2004 onwards), but if you take away those from Slough, High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes you are left with very few!  It is still a moth mainly of urban areas.

Small Ranunculus, Aylesbury 16th June

Dave Wilton
Westcott, Bucks