Clouded Yellow in Flight at RSPB Pulborough Brooks

Welcome to my wildlife photography journal! On 25th July 2026, I spent some time at RSPB Pulborough Brooks, enjoying the summer wildlife and looking for opportunities to photograph some of the butterflies and insects around the reserve.

One of the highlights of the session was finding a Clouded Yellow feeding and flying around a thistle. These small, fast-moving butterflies can be particularly challenging to photograph in flight, especially when they continually move around a flower without settling for very long. Their unpredictable movements make tracking them with the camera a real test of timing and patience.

I was pleased to capture several moments as the Clouded Yellow hovered and moved around the thistle, providing some good opportunities to photograph it against the surrounding summer landscape. Photographing wildlife in these natural situations is always more rewarding than simply finding a subject sitting still, as the images can capture something of its behaviour as well as its appearance.

Clouded Yellows are always a pleasure to see, and having the opportunity to photograph one behaving naturally around the thistle made this visit to RSPB Pulborough Brooks particularly enjoyable. It was another reminder that sometimes the smaller encounters can provide some of the most rewarding photographic opportunities.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to explore my other wildlife adventures and photography from RSPB Pulborough Brooks and beyond. Every visit brings something new, and I look forward to sharing more moments from the field soon.