Mute Swans

I woke up early this morning with energy to spare, so I went & did the grocery shopping, took some donations to the center, picked up the dry cleaning, & went to the florist! I took my camera along, but I was totally uninspired! It's a bleak day--grey, damp, dismal, cold & icy--the roads have all been salted so it's fine for driving, but the sidewalks & driveways are totally coated with the slippery stuff, so the emergency rooms will be hopping today with all the fractures from the falls!! We ended up going to the park in search of a blip, altho' we almost went back home, as all the paths there were glare ice too! But then my husband spotted 2 swans swimming in the lake! While we have trumpeter swans that are native to Wi., you rarely see any, let alone swimming in frigid Lake Michigan with the ice drifting around, so this was really rare for us! I looked these up, & found that they're mute swans--2 adult males, as designated by their orange bills. They were originally introduced into North America in the 1800's to adorn city parks & large estates, & apparently they're not appreciated at all, as they are extremely aggresive to both humans & other waterfoul! They take over the nesting areas of ducks, black terns & the loons, to name a few, which causes their populations to drop, while the mute swans' numbers increase! I read a report online about 3 pairs of mute swans that killed at least 50 ducks & geese in a zoo--must be the swan version of a "fly drive-by"!! I took some shots that were closer, but in the end I liked this one, because of the chunks of ice floating in the lake. Best viewed large. :)