Conditions at 12z Sunday (1PM BST): Thickness, 550dam, temperature 16C (dewpoint 12C). Wind from the south, 20 MPH. Today's high, 16C, last night's low 14C. (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA). 12z today - partly cloudy skies as a low moves swiftly NE'wards. The troughs in the circulation were responsible for thunder in the vicinity of Beenham at 17z.

This weekend marked another first for me, in that I was down to help with the Trust's Autumn seminar - something I'd not yet seen before.

My story started on Saturday, as around noon I set off on my journey to Beenham - and boy, what a difference from normal! I came to a complete standstill several times on the M25, before eventually arriving in the pouring rain at the Comfort Inn hotel near Beenham just under 3 hours after setting off.

Saturday was to be a photo day, but bearing in mind there was a MetO severe weather warning out for disruption due to heavy rain... Well, although I half expected it, it was still a surprise to arrive at the Trust in torrential rain to find Duma and Dakota on their mound, patiently sitting there while flashes went off all around.

Of course, I couldn't resist joining in and despite the wind, the rain and the gloom I managed to snag this photo:

Dakota and a sapling, in the pouring rain.

The photo day came to an end soon after, the guests left and then (amazingly, given the conditions) Duma and Dakota were lead out to the fields... yes, it was another chance for the trainees to handle. I tagged along even though I felt a bit guilty (having arrived late in the day), but I didn't have time to dwell on that!

The reason? Well, Dakota seems to fancy herself as a seamstress and ripped a large gash in one unfortunate person's coat - said person had handled hotdogs earlier and rubbed her hands clean on her coat. It has to be said that despite their size the wolves are fast - if they get a mischievious twinkle in their eyes and focus on you, you'd best be prepared for something to happen!

Apart from that, the walk went by without further incident - Dakota was superb when I had a session of handling her (or rather being lead from scent to scent by her!) Here's a view across the fields showing that a) it was raining heavily and b) the trees are still mostly green despite it being nearly November!

The Berkshire countryside on a wet mid-Autumn day

A quick trip around the pub followed, with some guests - Bob and Becky from the West Midlands Safari Park. It was interesting how their policies differ from ours - whereas interacting with the wolves for handlers is encouraged here, in the Park the wolves tend to keep their distance from their keepers. Then again, they have 13 or 14 wolves in a pack there, compared to two groups of two and a pack of 3 at the Trust...

Then it was off to the hotel, where I was kept awake for most of the night by thoughts of wolves, snoring, people yacking and creaking floors and squeaking chairs - not very refreshing really

Today dawned dry, thankfully, and I was up at the Trust before sunrise to help out with preparations for the Seminar. One of the side benefits was seeing people I'd not seen in ages, as I used to go up there on Saturdays before realising that the traffic's much easier to handle on Sundays.

Latea trots amongst the trees

After setting out the chairs I was able to listen to one of our senior handlers give a talk - John, who I've mentioned many a time on here. The talk was about the history of the Trust, in particular the European wolves - and yes, there was a lot of info I'd not seen or heard before, including some pictures of the "old" enclosures which I'd not seen. I still wish I'd visited the Trust 6 years ago when I first joined, as it was a world away from what we have now....

Some sunlight was peeking through the clouds as we all decamped for lunch and the sun continued shining back at the Trust after Dr Marino gave a talk about Ethiopian wolves - the 140 or so attendees were then divided into groups and taken around the fields with our European wolves (and in a seperate area, Duma and Dakota).

Latea again, this time waiting to be taken around the fields.

Eventually the public left, the merchandise was packed away (in a sharp shower) - and it was time to head back to Kent. Before I left, though, it started raining again. Nothing too noteworthy you might thing, but Dakota decided to take shelter - the first time I've ever seen her under there!

Dakota hiding from the rain

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