A ridge brings light winds across southern England. Far to the SW, Tropical Storm Vince was menacing Madeira - the furthest NE a tropical system has ever formed. Conditions at 12z (1PM BST): Thickness, 556dam, temperature 14C (dewpoint 6C). Wind from the south-southwest, 9 MPH. Sunday's high, 15C, Saturday night's low 6C (source: MetO, the 12z GFS and NOAA).

It may be coming up to the middle of autumn, but in Kent it's still doing a good impression of summer. In the morning twilight I headed westwards, skirting the capital and arrived at a soggy Berkshire just before nine. For once Duma and Dakota weren't there to greet me, as they were on a visit to Cheshire. The other wolves were around though and Alba came over to me as I passed his enclosure.

Despite it being warmer and much drier than last year, the leaves are starting to turn - a good three weeks earlier than last year. It's not just a Berkshire phenomenon either as the trees here on Sheppey are also turning yellow and red.


View to the NW, Beenham, 0855z



Not long after that there was a flurry of activity in the Euro enclosure. Lunca appeared and zoomed off at the speed of light, tail tucked right between her legs, with Latea in hot pursuit. Lunca veered behind a stand of trees but by then Latea had lost interest and hopped up onto a platform. Alba ambled up soon after and the pair howled at the church bells.


Alba (left) and Latea (right)

There's a 36 second video clip of them available here. (3.5M)

After that display I headed down to the old wolves to see what they were up to. Kenai was high atop her mound, looking over to the Euros and howling; however by the time I reached the enclosure she'd stopped howling and was instead watching me intently.


Kenai

By now others were starting to arrive but without the key to the Obs Room we decided to head off to do the cleaning (without our usual cup of coffee!) This time it was the Euro's quarters and they'd not made much mess at all - apart from some clumps of fur from their food there wasn't anything needing clearing. We then headed down to see Kodiak and Kenai - and as usual, Kodiak came over.


Kodiak

After that it was time to prepare for the walk, an unusual one at that. D&D were off at an event, we didn't have enough Euro handlers - so that meant it was Kenai who went for a walk. It was the first time I'd seen Kenai taken to the woods and she handled it like a pro. Then again, a long time ago she was one of the main ambassadors for the Trust, so she's used to the attention!


Kenai in the pig trailer, Pennsylvania Woods

Watching Kenai was an education. She's a very confident creature as befits her Alpha status and she lets the handlers know it too. She's also a wily old wolf and knows all the tricks to get the handlers to move along if she wants to get going. It may appear she's heading in the wrong direction, but by the time she's facing forwards again she'd magically have moved forward a foot or so! Needless to say I took the opportunity to snap lots of photos, although as I was acting as backup handler at the lake I didn't get any pictures of her there.





As usual once the walk was over we headed back to the centre and the visitors were taken for a tour of the wolves, followed by a walk with Kenai for the trainees. I said my goodbyes and headed back to the desert of Kent, having had a fun day.

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