12z today - a ridge covers Ireland, with last night's low having moved SE'wards over France, taking its sleet with it. Moderate NE'lies cover southern England, feeding in dry air. Conditions at 12PM on Sunday: Thickness, 529dam, temperature 5C(dewpoint -4C). Wind from the northeast, 17 MPH. Today's high, 5C, last night's low 3C. (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA).

As is often the case when there's a chance of snow, I awoke early and peeked out of the window - only to see it teeming down with rain. An hour later it was time to get up and the temperature was 5.7C, far too warm for anything interesting. After doing the usual bits and pieces I set off in the rain, with the temperature still around 5C.

Almost as soon as I left the rain became near torrential, driven on by strong NE'ly winds - and to my delight I saw the telltale splodges of sleet on the windscreen, together with white bits in the headlight beams. It soon turned back to rain, but a bit later on the M25 it turned back to sleety stuff, a whisker away from full blown snow.... That was the very back edge of the system though, and by the time I arrived at Beenham there were blue skies overhead, with the remnants of the cloud to the south and east. The temperature fluctuated wildly on the way there, going from 5C to 2C and back again...

I was the first to arrive at the Trust, which meant after I let myself in I had the place to myself. The Euros chased my car down the driveway and both Duma and Dakota watched my every move as I parked in the secondary carpark.

Here's Dakota, on the concrete area by her kennel. I'm not sure whether she was watching me or the European wolves behind me!

It wasn't long before others arrived and today's cleaning job was Kodiak and Kenai's sleeping area. The wolves hadn't made much mess at all, nor had they eaten much - there were two whole paunches buried in their straw. Both the elderly wolves came over to say "hi":

Kenai's on the right, with her half-brother Kodiak on the left. They'll be 11 this spring, yet both appear as active as ever.

With that out of the way, preperations were made for today's members walk, the last of the year. It was unusual in that the Euros were taken out, rather than Duma and Dakota, and they looked superb in amongst the flora of the forest. Here's a selection of photos of them:

Alba, the male of the group, alpha by default.

Lunca getting some attention from a handler - the expression on her face is one of absolute bliss!

The woods were looking inviting today, under clear blue skies. The trees filtered out the worst of the NE'ly wind and as usual I was wearing a T-Shirt. One of these days it'll get cold enough to require a sweatshirt....

However, with the recent rain the woods were as soggy as ever at ground level. I pity those who turned up wearing anything other than Wellington boots!

An unusual shot - Latea, looking over the lake. There's a tree reflected in the mirror-like surface.

All too soon we were back at the Trust, and this time Duma and Dakota were brought out to meet and greet the visitors. That meant they were unavailable for the trainee's walk, so to my delight Kenai was taken out again. It seems the whole Trust has heard of my fondness for the old wolf!

This time, as it was still sunny, I took my camera along.

Another unusual shot - this shows Kenai rubbing a cheek on the grass. Wolves have scent glands on their faces and this is a form of scent marking.

A typical shot of what goes on during a trainee walk - there's a trainee with the wolf (this particular trainee is a snow-lover) and an assistant senior handler or senior to watch over them, providing advice and making sure everything runs smoothly.

It's actually very similar to what goes on during a normal walk, with a person watching the wolf (and only the wolf), and someone else backing them up, ie keeping an eye out for things the wolf might find interesting, such as soft drinks cans.

Once again I was lucky enough to have Kenai stop right in front of me, for a belly rub - her fur is incredibly thick down there.

It was then back to the Obs Room for a Christmas mulled wine and mince pie session, although as I was driving I gave the wine a miss (a shame, as it smelt quite inviting!) I also nipped out to give the wolves their Christmas present, some expensive hotdog sausages from Tesco.

First up, Kodiak and Kenai. The latter is superb at sniffing out hotdogs, anticipating exactly where they'd fall and wolfing them down. Poor old Kodiak isn't as bright, instead sniffing around a fair bit before finding them - that is, as long as Kenai hasn't beaten him to it!

Duma and Dakota were jumping up at the wire mesh in anticipation of the hotdogs, tails wagging - as it was twilight I couldn't really get a photo of them, but they're incredibly eager! D&D showed superb precision, snapping the hotdog chunks out of the air before they could land.

The European wolves aren't meant to have cooked foods, so I'd planned to get some beef jerky for them. Sadly my local Tesco didn't have any in stock, although I've been advised a pet superstore might have some - one for while I'm on my travels around the January sales.

After saying goodbye it was time to head back home, under clear skies.

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