Black Swan Swimming on a Foggy Morning, Victoria, Australia

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This color photograph was captured during a calm morning as a bank of fog retreated to reveal a black swan swimming in Victoria's Gippsland Lakes. With the foreground water reflecting the fog behind the swan there is no horizon line or sense of the swan's position, except the slight wake created by the swan's swimming.

The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large and iconic Australian waterbird. They are native only to Australia and are found throughout the southern half of the continent. When mature, black swans measure between 110 and 142 centimetres (43 and 56 in) in length and weigh 3.7–9 kilograms (8.2–19.8 pounds). Their wing span is between 1.6 and 2 metres (5.2 and 6.6 feet).

Black swans have the longest neck relative to their body size of any swan. They are nomadic within Australia, with erratic migration patterns that depend on climatic conditions. It is a monogamous breeder, with both partners sharing incubation and cygnet-rearing duties.