Pussy willow?

I'm not sure if this is pussy willow or a relative. I blipped it at Craiglockhart Pond where I went to check up on the bird life, having been fired with enthusiasm after yesterday's trip to Blackford Pond. There were most of the same birds as I saw yesterday: mallards, coots, tufted ducks and moorhens, but no little grebes. There were however goosanders and Canada geese. 
 
It took me a while to figure out what the position was with the swans - and then, on chatting to another visitor, my attention was drawn to the most recent Swan Watch posting where all was explained. I knew that things had been complicated over the last few months and I'm going to summarise what I know, which may be of little interest to anyone else, but too bad ;-)
 
There was a pair of swans who nested on the Union Canal in Wester Hailes whose names were Penelope and Tullius. They were chasing off that year's cygnets in early December last year and Penelope was following a cygnet that flew over the main road, but although the cygnet made it, Penelope was struck by a car and killed. Penelope and Tullius had nested in Wester Hailes for six years and raised 40 cygnets. 
 
Tullius turned up at Craiglockhart Pond shortly thereafter and proceeded to challenge Siegfried who had nested there with his mate Brighid for seven years, raising more than 50 cygnets. Brighid sided with Tullius (so much for mating for life) and after struggles that went on until early February, Siegfried was badly injured and although he was taken to the Dick Vet and treated with antibiotics for an infected leg wound, he didn’t respond well and it was thought kinder to put him to sleep. 
 
Tullius then tried to persuade Brighid to return to the canal with him, but he was unsuccessful. At present they are both on Craiglockhart Pond but so are three of last year’s cygnets. They would normally have left by now, either on their own initiative or by being chased off by their parents. However, no adults were around for a while, so they have got used to being there on their own. I witnessed efforts by both adults to chase them off and they seemed to be aiming to prevent the cygnets from entering the pond, which they need to do to feed. Apparently one of the cygnets is bigger than Tullius, so who will win this power struggle isn’t a forgone conclusion. It seems that Tullius and Brighid will only breed if the cygnets leave. And it remains to be seen what will happen to the vacant territory on the canal – I guess a new pair of swans will take it over, but maybe not in time to breed this year.