A great black-backed gull in Callander, Scotland

From Wikipedia:

Salix caprea, known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.[3]

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 8–10 m (26–33 ft), rarely to 13 m.

The leaves are 3–12 cm long and from 2–8 cm wide, broader than most other willows.

The flowers are soft silky, and silvery 3-7-cm-long catkins are produced in early spring before the new leaves appear; the male and female catkins are on different plants (dioecious). The male catkins mature yellow at pollen release, the female catkins mature pale green.

Image Details
Date: 27 March 2026
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/160s
ISO: 800
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International