Bentley Wood Kicks Off In Style

Arrived at Bentley Wood at 10.30 to find the car park next to the Eastern Clearing already bulging . A quick look at the book showed that HIM had been on the wing since Wednesday with 3 being seen on each day .Walked down the switchback to the crossroads to find many White Admirals and SW Frits lining the way and drinking from puddles . At the crossroads i took a right and walked to the Wych Elms to see the W L Hairstreaks . The rides were still a bit cool but by 11.30 the temperature rose and as i walked back to the crossroads a male appeared , greeted me with a few flashes of purple and flew up to the oak where it was intercepted by another and both flew off not to return . Three other guys had taken a left at the crossroads ( to Donkey Copse as they called it ) and had been baiting with Durian fruit ! ! That stuff stinks awful but it did the trick as they had tempted two males to the ground . Walking back to the car park and another male made a descent to head height but failed to stop , and then i found out i had missed a male in the car park by 5 minutes . I decided to try the track in between the car park and the Eastern Clearing in a last chance to get a picture as this has always been very productive for me and was instantly greeted by a male possibly sallow searching and then there it was , a grounded male . By now it was 13.00 and the temperature had risen sharply so he was'nt very obliging , keeping his wings firmly shut . In total i saw 5 Emperors with another 3 seen by others , so it would appear to be a good start for Bentley .