Goat Willow

I'm sticking my neck out here and saying this is goat willow/great sallow, Salix caprea.  However, I do find it hard to unscramble the willows (especially before their leaves are out) so if there are any experts out there who know better, please do tell me.

Right now the entire reserve is covered with fallen blobs of fluff (note the technical language), in the puddles, on the boardwalks, swimming around with the ducks.  There's even plenty still on the twigs, so it seemed appropriate to have a sample in my journal.

This was another earlyish one, before the sun hid itself for the remainder of the day - not as exciting as yesterday's sparrowhawk, but just as relevant to the life of the reserve.  And talking of the hawk, I must thank all of you for your really lovely comments, stars and hearts.  You know it makes me quite emotional - muchas gracias, dear blipfriends ;))

Finally, results for the WildflowerWeek21_01 challenge are now on my yesterday's journal page, also in the blip Challenges section.  Thank you again to all of you who entered.

And enjoy your evening, when you get there  xx