A cold front is moving in from the north, leading to increasingly cloudy skies for southern England. Conditions at 12z (1PM BST): Thickness, 550dam, temperature 16C (dewpoint 7C). Wind from the west, 12 MPH. Today's high, 18C, last night's low 11C (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA). Next week's forecast (12z GFS, T+168, 06z ensembles, T+180): Thickness, 566dam. Temperature: 24C, largely clear skies with a small risk of showers.

The last few days have seen plenty of typical summer weather, clear blue skies, light winds and warm sunshine. However, today dawned overcast and grey, with an overnight low of 8.9C. It was still grey by the time I set off westwards, something which seemed to discourage tourists as the roads were much quieter than last week. It rained as I passed the Clackett Lane services, although it didn't last for long.

I arrived at the wolf centre at around a quarter to nine and after letting myself in, I found I had the place to myself. The wolves had been let out earlier in the day, but there was no sign of the European wolves - unusual, as they usually gallop over when they hear a car approach. Kodiak and Kenai were nowhere to be seen either, with Duma and Dakota lying in an area of mown grass in their enclosure.

The grey of Kent and Sussex had been replaced with scattered cumulus clouds, a gentle breeze and strong sunshine, something which the wolves seemed to relish.

View to the north, Beenham, 0755z

After saying hello to D&D I headed back to open up the Obs Room and just as I was doing that the first of the volunteers, Tracy, turned up. The Euros stirred at last as she drove up and came over to the fence, initially greeting us both. It soon turned into a display of pack dynamics, with a fair bit of mouthing (showing dominance) accompanied by some whimpering:

http://www.medvale.net/wolves/05-06-12/euros.mp3

We headed down to Kodiak and Kenai, who came over to see us. Both wolves have almost finished moulting, with bottle-brush like tails. They'll slowly fill out over the next few weeks....

Kodiak, with Kenai in the background

A yawning Kodiak

Kodiak and Kenai howled afterwards and for once I had the equipment to record them. Tracy and I listened as Kenai performed some very unusual howls, quite different to the usual long drawn out "ooooo" sound. She's accompanied by Kodiak in this clip:

http://www.medvale.net/wolves/05-06-12/kodiak-and-kenai.mp3

After that the others arrived and we set off to do the cleaning. This time we chose Duma and Dakota's quarters and apart from a few bits of straw on the floor and the odd bone it was pretty clean already.

The European wolves were still basking in the sun, although temperatures of around 14C belied the strength of the sunshine!

It was quite unusual to see the wolves lying in direct sunshine, as at this time of year as noon approaches they tend to seek the shade. I suspect it was the combination of a breeze and relatively cool temperatures that caused it... and of course wolves generally don't have to worry about sunburn!

Duma

The long grass made the wolves surprisingly hard to see - yes, there is a wolf in this shot somewhere!

Dakota

As early afternoon arrived I headed for home, with the roads much less busy than they are later in the afternoon, when I usually leave.

As usual, further information about the wolves and the Trust is available on the UKWCT website, as well as in the Wolves and Weather archives.

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