2026 is turning into a very good year for Clouded Yellow butterflies.
Nick Galer alerted us to his sighting of more than 40 at Lydlinch Common (North Dorset) on 27 August. He said they were all feeding on the Fleabane and Devil’s-bit Scabious flowers: ‘At one time it appeared there was an individual on every flower head’.
This prompted us to look at the recent sightings reported to us, which showed the very unusual situation of Clouded Yellows being the third most reported butterfly over the last 7 days with 195, outnumbered only by Common Blues at 212 and Small Whites at 214. Though you do have to factor in that a less common species like the Clouded Yellow will be reported more than sightings of common species.
Skimming the recent reports of Clouded Yellows, 15 were seen near Burton Bradstock (West Dorset) and 25 near Thornicombe (central Dorset), so they are well distributed through the county.
Numbers reported to this website so far this year:
April – 8
May – 12
June – 16
July 524
Aug (to 28th) – 477
Total so far – 1,037, and there are probably more to come: sightings over the last five years show a peak in September.
This compares to a total in the whole of 2025 of 330.
Clouded Yellows are migrants to this country, but can breed when they get here, with their caterpillars feeding on clovers, lucerne (alfalfa) and sometimes Bird’s-foot Trefoil and other legumes.
Clouded Yellow f.helice. Photo: Nick Galer
A small proportion of female Clouded Yellows will be paler than normal, and called the ‘helice’ form: not to be confused with the rarer Pale and Berger’s Clouded Yellows.
You can find more information on this butterfly on our Species page, and you can keep an eye on our Recent Sighting page to see how numbers are going.
More than 10+ of Clouded Yellow seen today, 3rd September at Chilcombe West Dorset!
It does seem to be a bumper Clouded Yellow year. If you could report your sighting on our Recording form on this website, that would be ideal. Sorry I can’t link to it – I’m not sure if it’s me or the technology, but something won’t play!
Hello, I was on the south west coastal path yesterday 6th Sept near to Chickerell Dorset and literally hundreds of clouded yellows in long grass on the edge of a saltwater marsh. Spectacular.