By noon, the system over NW France was close enough to bring substantial cloud to Beenham. Stats: Overnight low 14C, high 22C, rainfall 1mm.

It had been two weeks - two long, sticky, sultry weeks, but today was time to visit the wolves at Beenham again!

As mentioned over in the current conditions thread, today started off cool here, but by the time I left the temperature was already 17.2C, with altocumulus covering the sky. Despite forecasts of sunshine, I remained sceptical, so I packed my coat just in case.

As I trundled along the motorway network the cloud cover waxed and waned, but always 3 oktas or more, mainly altocumulus. By the time I drew up at Beenham, the skies looked like this (view to the SE, 0855z):

Over the intervening hour it became overcast, with stratus - but despite the greying skies, there was work to be done. Today I chose Kodiak and Kenai's sleeping quarters, and they hadn't made much mess at all. That left time to grab some pictures - first up, Kenai, showing the residue from that wound she had some time ago:

Kodiak's never far away from Kenai, and he duly trotted up to say hello:

After that, under leaden skies, it was back to the Observations Room for some refreshments. It was there that I learnt my plans for the Bank Holiday weekend had been dealt a blow, as I'd been hoping to attend the Edenbridge and Oxted show with the wolves. However, the show's cancelled and booked llamas (!) instead, believing that the red tape surrounding the wolves would be too great a hassle. Not good for anyone, but there's not much that can be done...

It was fitting that it started drizzling around then, only light (as the clouds were shallow), but a far cry from the sunshine that had been forecast.

Still, there's usually something going on at the Trust and today was no exception; it was off to the woods with Duma and Dakota. This time I shared car-watch duty for the first half, then zipped through the (humid) woods to the "stump", which is where the public are given a talk about wolves in general, as well as the wolves at the Trust. While watching the cars with Caroline there was a small downpour, but the walkers not half a mile away had much lighter rain - illustrating the localised nature of today's rainfall.

So, onto the pictures - here we see Dakota sniffing a tree:

Here's the same wolf a little later, scratching at the ground. She's scent marking, this time using the scent glands on her paws. The wolves will often scratch away for a bit in an attempt to get their scent noticed, and today was no exception. Yesterday's walk had been with the European wolves, meaning there was a lot of scent marking going on as Duma and Dakota tried to reclaim the territory.

We then arrived at the lake (and thankfully the drizzle eased off). This is where the wolves go swimming, or more usually paddling. Firstly we have Dakota (top) and Duma paddling through the water - note the easy way to tell the sisters apart, as Dakota's tail is shorter. Indeed, Duma's tail is now sporting an uncanny resemblance to Kenai's, perhaps no surprise as both sets of wolves came from Woburn.

Dakota then investigated a branch before both wolves left the water and shook themselves dry.

As we headed back to the cars, the pace slowed slightly - but the wolves were still pretty energetic. Here we see Dakota, having another good sniff (scent being very important to wolves, of course):

The handler for that one is Angela - and I know she's lurking out there!

Back at the Trust and I snapped this one through the Obs Room window - hence the smear on the right. Trouble is, cleaning it involves going into the wolves' enclosure, something that's extremely awkward when the wolves are in it!

I believe it's Alba, Lunca, Latea from left to right, but don't quote me on it.

There was just time for a quick trip around the fields after the guests had left, and for the first time I was able to handle both wolves - firstly Dakota, then Duma and Duma again a bit later. It's all great fun, although you really need your wits about you when Kenai's around, as Duma, Dakota and Kenai don't exactly get along with each other.... Needless to say, I came out of that having learnt a fair bit more about handling - it really is complex.

So, after saying my goodbyes I set off in the gathering gloom for home, finally arriving back in Kent just over half an hour ago. My next visit is next Sunday, and from the looks of the charts I suspect it'll have a very different feel to it!

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