Conditions at 12z (1PM BST): Thickness, 555dam, temperature 17C (dewpoint 10C). Wind from the southwest, 20 MPH. Today's high, 18C, last night's low 10C. (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA). The chart for noon (GMT) today shows a deep low to the NW of Scotland, with brisk WSW'lies or SW'lies and plenty of cloud across much of England.

Today was the last weekend of summer, so it seemed typical that it was overcast and cool as I left at around 8 this morning - there was also a heavy dew on the car. The temperature was 11C as I zoomed along the Lower Road and off the Island; it rose slowly to around 14C by the time I pulled up at the Trust just under 2 hours later.

The skies were threatening and just as I took this photo it started raining - typical!

(View to the NE, Beenham, 0905z)

Today was originally meant to be a show day at the Edenbridge show, but that was cancelled in favour of llamas a while ago. There was some envelope stuffing to be done, but as I was all alone I decided to go after the wolves instead. The wolves were quite hard to spot, lying in the long grass... The Euros weren't that interested in coming over, Duma and Dakota watched me but decided to stay put while Kodiak and Kenai were nowhere to be seen.

On the way back to the observation room I stopped by at the Euro enclosure, just in time to see Lunca come over and give me a good sniffing. Having said "hi" to her, I went inside and awaited the other volunteers.

Dominic arrived, as did Angela - then the Euros decided to start howling, and once again I had my camera ready!

(Alba, left and Lunca)

(Lunca demonstrates that wolves don't have to stand to howl!)

Just before we set off to clean the wolves' kennels, I snapped this photo - the wolves really weren't that active this morning.

The cleaning didn't take that long (although interestingly all the wolves had left some of their food) and after that it was time for envelope stuffing - well, for most of us anyway.

(Brian, Angela, Paul and Linda - all working on stuffing the latest newsletter into envelopes).

Even the most mundane tasks seem more interesting with wolves around, though, and the Euros can just be seen above Angela's head.

Stuffing envelopes took up a good shunk of time, but there was a surprise for us all as some visitors turned up unexpectedly, having seen an advert in a local brochure. Oops - you're not really meant to just pop in without having booked a visit, but they wanted to join the Trust anyway.

The skies were still leaden, although a few chinks in the cloud allowed a small amount of sunshine through. The wind was increasing and that added to the autumnal feel.

(View to the north, around 13z)

As the afternoon wore on, people gradually left until there were just three of us left. We decided to pay Kody and Kenai a visit, as I'd not seen hide nor hair of them earlier.

After a bit of waiting, Kodiak decided to pay us all a visit, strutting up to the fence and scent marking a few times, just to make sure we knew that he's the boss in there.... Dominic pointed out that Kody's filling out again, although I'm not sure whether that's because he's putting on weight or growing his winter coat early!

Kenai was also around, although as ever she generally stayed in the background. Note the white fur on her tail - although Kody's the same age, his tail is still as dark as ever.

After that, I handed my camera over to Dominic and headed away from the wolves. Kodiak (ever curious) followed me, then as I nipped back to Dominic he loped along in the enclosure, keeping pace with me.

Finally, Kodiak gave a few short (and somewhat squeaky) howls:

We headed back past Duma and Dakota's enclosure, with Kenai howling on her mound in the distance. Duma and Dakota also howled, but by the time I'd faffed around making some room on my camera's SmartMedia card they'd stopped.

After that, it was time to head for home, with low cloud and light rain - a throroughly gloomy day weather wise, but the wolves had their usual cheery effect on me!

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