With Thursday morning’s return to winter comes word an annual rite of spring in Lambton, the return of the tundra swans.

Staff at the Lambton Heritage Museum have seen the majestic white swans on the Thedford bog.

Colleen Inglis, Educational Program Coordinator at the museum, says the swans make an annual stop in Lambton County as part of a 6,000 kilometre loop between Chesapeake Bay and the Canadian Arctic.

She adds in a good year, there may be as many as 15,000 swans resting on the bog, attracted by the melt water of spring and the remnants of the prior year’s corn crop. The number of swans each day can change depending on time, weather, and field conditions

Visitors often take cameras and binoculars to the roads around the bog to get a look at the birds. Inglis says if you want the best chance of seeing the tundra swans, you can visit returnoftheswans.com to find out how many swans are on the bog.