Mute Swans with Cygnets

Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, with young swans (cygnets) swimming in L'Etang de Bolmon, France.  These swans are native to Europe and Asia but have been introduced into North America.  They can be recognized by the large black knob on the top of their beak.  Adult males run 25 to 30 pounds, being one of the heaviest flying birds (and one of the largest water birds as well).  This pair (the male, with the larger knob on its beak, on the left, and the female on the right) was shielding their cygnets from the wind on a particularly gusty day.

Orchids: A Myriad of Different Shapes and Colors

Serapias parviflora, a grass-like wild orchid with tawny orange-red, furry lips, blooming on a windy strip of land adjacent to L'Etang de Bolmon, France, mere moments away from Marseille and even closer to Marseille Airport.

Ophrys bertolonii

Ophrys bertolonii blooming in an open field at L'Etang de Bolmon.  There were quite a few of them in bloom and there was some variation in lips and color.  It's not clear if there were additional species involved or if the species was simply very variable.

Ophrys bertolinii 'Le canard'.  I dubbed this one "the duck" because of the duck shaped patch on the lip.

This one looks suspiciously like Ophrys ferrum-equinum based on the alterred sepal stance and the U on the lip.  However, it is probably yet another bertolonii mutant or perhaps a bertolonii hybrid (with what, however, I cannot tell you).