Black swans cruising

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Australia -- being on the other side of the globe (and therefore upside down, from the standpoint of, say, London or new York!) tends to do things backwards. For instance, the trees don't shed their leaves ... they shed their bark. The flowers don't bloom in summer ... they bloom in winter. And the swans aren't white -- you guessed. They're black. These particular swans are cruising the somewhat murky waters of a natural lake at a campsite in the Barossa, and were photographed early one morning in 2006. They're a mated pair, and their cygnet is just out of the shot, to your right. The signs were up: beware of swans. They can be violent and quite dangerous in the breeding season, if they perceive their offspring to be under threat. These birds seemed peaceable enough. Photo by Mel, 2006.