The truest sign of Winter’s onset for our family is the return of the Trumpeter Swans. Right after Halloween we move from salmon and skeletons to full-on ornithologists looking for our friends headed South from Alaska for their balmy vacation from the Northern cold.

They’ve become like the neighbors who only live in town half the year. We so look forward to hanging out in the different spots where they get together around the Comox Valley and are guaranteed some good Winter birding since this part of Vancouver Island  and the Comox Valley in particular is the proud owner of the title of having one of the largest overwintering populations of Trumpeter Swans in the world.

1. One of our favorite swan-watching spots is the Courtenay Air Park. On the path that runs parallel to Mansfield Drive, you can get a fairly close-up view of swans gathering in the Courtenay Estuary, especially on a clear day. They are big fans of the vegetation and other snacks in the shallow waters and tend to start to pair off throughout the Winter as they get closer to mating season.

2. Across the 17th Street Bridge, you’ll almost always find Trumpeter Swans parked in different locations along the protected farmland there. Simpson Farm, maintained by Ducks Unlimited Canada, is a space that we’ve been lucky enough to get access to for NeigbourWood Walks and we quickly realized there are great lookout points just off the roadway where you can watch swans in the little waterways and swampy areas there.

3. Headed East, we often find ourselves in bird mode following swans from Pt. Holmes Beach out to different farms out on Knight Road in Comox. While this isn’t always an easy way to watch the birds, it has been the way that we have seen them from the closest range. As long as we are standing in the turnoffs along the road and not trespassing on farmland, we watch them for ages as they eat, hang out and entertain themselves all Winter long.

4. One of our regular Winter drives is out along Headquarters Road where the farmland makes for perfect lunch spots for munching swans. We have spotted hundreds together in one spot and followed them from different spots around town to farms out there where they seem most comfortable and no one seems bothered by the presence of these beauties.

5. Finally, we enjoyed several major spottings last season out at Oyster River Nature Park. The former UBC farmland to the left of the trails out there is swan heaven and the quiet trails make for a good viewing spot.

Swan watching is a great way to dust off those explorer hats and get outside with the family. While there are few spots where you can actually get out and walk around in the fields where the swans are hanging out, there are plenty of opportunities to go on swan spotting missions that offer you the chance to take a lovely drive around the Valley, get out and check out the swans.

Trumpeter Swans are a true story of surviving against incredible odds. Once abundant along the West Coast, these birds were literally hunted to the edge of extinction, with less than 200 in North America by the 1930s.

Now, due to aggressive conservation efforts and the preservation of breeding and Wintering grounds like the farmlands around the Comox Valley, the swan now boasts a population numbering in the thousands. The experts tell us that the population usually doesn’t peak until after the first of the year. If that’s the case, there are going to be a whole heck of a lot of swans around town this season.

For school-age kiddos, studying our local swan population is a great way to keep them motivated to get outside this time of year. If you have a kiddo into science, try a swan journal, binoculars and hooking up with the Comox Valley Naturalists, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Canadian Wildlife Federation to learn more.

• Do you have an artist? Set them up with drawing tools.
• A photographer? The camera and these guys are very friendly.
• A dirt lover? Let them check out how the Trumpeter Swan forages for food and then try to recreate it in your backyard.
• A musician? Try recording the distinct sounds of this swan and create a swan song.

We’re going to keep a photo and written journal, keep track of where and when we find our feathered friends, and work on counting – which seems to be a fave around here right now.