12z today - A ridge from the Continent covers the UK, bringing mild air aloft. However, a substantial inversion meant temperatures were slightly below average over Beenham. Conditions at 12PM on Sunday: Thickness, 547dam, temperature 5C(dewpoint 3C). Wind from the east, 9 MPH. Today's high, 5C, last night's low 4C. (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA).

It was pitch black as I left Leysdown this morning, with the temperature at 5C and falling slowly. Amazingly I didn't see another car on my side of the road for 12 miles after I set off and indeed the roads were pretty quiet throughout today, much like the weather. The day dawned grey and misty and it stayed that way all day long, with stratocumulus trapped under an inversion.

It only took an hour and three quarters today to get to the Trust and thankfully it was all unlocked once I arrived. As usual the European wolves chased my car as I drove down to the car park - they seem to enjoy a good game of chase!

After saying "hi" to Duma and Dakota, I headed over to Kodiak and Kenai. This photo shows Kenai, plus some trees in the background which still have their leaves, despite it being two weeks into winter!

Duma and Dakota, meanwhile, were having a staring contest with the European wolves. There's no love lost between the two sets of wolves and staring matches are a regular occurance.

As it turns out there were quite a few of us down today and that included two newcomers, who were quickly introduced to the delights of cleaning out the European wolf kennels. All the wolves went to bed last night, except Latea.

With cleaning out of the way we headed back to the Obs Room to discuss the upcoming walk, followed by a trip to the woods for the walk itself. It's over a fortnight since the last significant rainfall, yet the woods are still saturated with several large puddles.

This is the beginning of the walk - the guests are all lined up on the left of the picture, then the wolves are taken in front of them to sniff them all and get their scents.

Here's a photo of Duma, scratching at the floor with her hind paws in a form of scent marking.

It didn't feel that cold in the woods and I commented on the way back that the displayed temperature of 5C didn't seem accurate. Oops - Angela (I know you're lurking out there, along with others from the Trust), I was wrong as my sources show that it really was 5C, despite it seeming warmer.

After the guests had gone, it was decided not to take Duma and Dakota around the fields as they'd had enough for the day. Instead the discussion turned to Kenai, the aging wolf whom I adopted back in 1998 - she's my favourite of the bunch.
I may as well point out here that my dream for the past 6 years has been to do a "meet and greet" with Kenai, stroking her on the belly much as with Duma and Dakota. I came close to it back in the summer when Kenai had a neck wound, but there was still a fence in the way.

Kenai, about to chomp some bones.

To my delight it was decided to bring her out for a walk, something which necessitated seperating Kodiak from her. He's not that bright and was easily distracted while Kenai eagerly came out of the enclosure. As we were walking along I was asked if I'd handled Kenai before, and of course the answer to that was "no".

Amazingly the lead was offered to me and as if in a dream I found myself with Kenai, who was busily sniffing around and scratching vigourously at the ground to spread her scent. She darted this way and that, from scent to scent - and then decided to rub up against everyone which made holding the lead really awkward. I'm sure it's second nature to those with dogs, but it was a real handful to make sure she didn't get entangled in it as she twisted around....

A bit later, in the twilight, I was able to fulfil that dream of mine as Kenai rubbed against me then stood there, giving me the ideal opppertunity to give her belly a good rub. I could quite happily have stayed there all night, but as it was almost dark it was time to head back. All the time Kodiak was watching us, giving the odd howl and showing us all how much he cares about his half-sister. Either that or he wanted to be out there with us, which is quite likely!

I was still reeling from the pleasure of it all when I was offered a second chance with Kenai; she headed in a straight line for much of the time, which made things much easier. After that it was back into her enclosure to be reunited with Kodiak - and then as it was fully dark it was time to head back to Kent.

The journey back seemed one of the quickest ever, although at just under 2 hours it wasn't that fast really. I still can't believe what happened earlier - it's on a par with it snowing at Christmas, something that you don't really ever expect to see....

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