The fronts stayed out well to the west, with the high over the North Sea bringing clear skies to Beenham. Stats: Overnight low 7C, high 20C, rainfall 0, thickness 551dam (00z).

After writing the analysis, I faced the prospect of driving for a couple of hours, heading west to Beenham. Despite the dew on the grass, the temperature had already reached 12C when I ventured outside just after eight. Good job I was early, too, as when I went to check the tyre pressure before setting off the poxy thing decided to let a fair bit of the air out of the first tyre I tested - and it did it again when I quickly tried it on another tyre. Wonderful, so I ended up limping over to a garage to use their air nozzle....

After that minor setback, I felt pretty hot and bothered, but driving along mostly empty roads soon lifted my spirits, as did the sight of some altocumulus. I drew up at the gate to the Trust around 2 and a quarter hours later, to be greeted by three other volunteers - and by this stage, the car thermometer was saying 19C (and as it's around 2C high at home, that meant 17C - still pretty warm for half-ten!).

We then chatted for a while about various wolf-related topics, before heading out to see how much of a mess the wolves had made. Duma and Dakota were off at the Berkshire College of Agriculture, while the European wolves were sleeping in the sun. The latter had ruffled their straw bedding around, but the two sisters and the old pair (Kodiak and Kenai) hadn't touched theirs - for all the world, looking as if they'd not been to bed again. While checking K&K's bedding, Kodiak made a display of scent-marking - thankfully not on me, but rather on the clean concrete to my right.

As usual, the wolves howled (lead by Kodiak, I noticed, the old alpha) and annoyingly as my camera was back in the visitor centre I missed it. However, that's five of five times now, and it roused the Europeans from their slumber.

With little work to do, it meant I had ample oppertunity to get up to the wolves and take some photos, starting with hopping over the safety fence and getting closer to Kodiak and Kenai. They celebrated their tenth birthdays by having hotdog sausages earlier in the week, and Kenai sported an unusual turqiose patch (the result of spray-on antibiotics to treat an abcess).

In this photo, we see Kodiak having a good look as I bent down to take his picture; Kenai is laying down in the background.

By now, the sun was really quite strong, and I was well aware of the fact that I'd not worn suncream (I really will have to put some on next time, even if the wolves aren't particularly fond of it). The skies had become slightly milky, though, which surprised me bearing in mind we're under a ridge (even though it was forecast).

The European wolves were now properly awake, and Lunca came over to be scratched (note: not my arm!)

As you may just be able to make out from these photos, the wolves are still in their winter coats, but at last they've started moulting. Indeed, a tuft of fur came loose while Lunca was being scratched, and I've now got it sitting on the computer desk.

Alba (the male European wolf) came and put on a display for us after that, strutting around with his tail held high - he seems to want everyone to know his position in the pack!

While we were watching the wolves frolicking around, I found out that they don't in fact respond to their names, nor (as I suspected) do things like "come over here" work - a marked difference between Canis Lupus and Canis Lupus Familiaris. The wolves do respond to voices though, especially those of yapping Jack Russel terriers (nice and snack sized for a wolf!). One of said tiny dogs was yapping while I took Alba's picture - I'm not sure which he found more interesting, the people watching him or that dog in the distance!

As the sun continued rising towards noon GMT, it was time to leave - much as though I'd love to sit and watch the wolves all day, I had other wolf-related things planned. By now even the wolves seemed to be feeling the heat, stuck as they were under their magnificent fur coats:

You probably can't tell, but while Alba was off to the right of the picture having a good sniff at everyone, Lunca and Latea were sheltering in the shade of their huts - those wolves certainly aren't mad!

On the way back, the car read 21C to 23C, suggesting another warm day - and there were some cumulus around, increasing in number as I crawled back eastwards for home.

My next visit is on the 8th May, and this time I'll have some big boxes to take with me. No, I'm not planning to sneak one of the wolves out, but to install an old PC in the centre to display wolf related news, facts and the UKWCT website. It should be fun, but I doubt any of the wolves themselves will be allowed to use it!

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