The catkins of Hazel (left) and Alder (right) are now swinging from their respective tree branches like furry pussycats’ tails – the male catkins, that is.

The female flowers are rather different, the Hazel females (left) totally different, that startlingly hot pink, and the Alder flowers (right) a little catkin-ish but much smaller (my last photo shows both male and female Alder to show the size comparison).