Brighter

A beautiful day - at last!  The only bad thing about bright, blue-skied mornings at this time of year, is the very cold night which invariably precedes them and this morning was no different.  It was bitterly cold as Malcolm and I set out for a walk and frost was still glistening on the grass where houses had shaded the turf from the rising sun.  But, the sky was clear blue and the birds were singing their little hearts out.
Walking through the old car park of the American Adventure theme park, we were struck by these small, red flowers beginning to open on a couple of trees.

Resembling the flowers of the Hazel trees, but with a more 'furry' look to them, they are not the 'usual', petaled flowers we are used to and as yet I have not been able to identify them.

The trees were no more than 12ft tall and obviously of an ornamental, non-native type, planted for decoration around the car park.  If anyone has any idea what they may be, please leave a comment.  Meanwhile, I will continue to search.  I hate to be defeated!