Swan pilgrimages

(Nimue)

There are things I do as part of my relationship with the tuning year that are spiritually important to me, but don’t relate to anything traditional. These are journeys I make to connect to things that happen seasonally where I live. 

Locally one of the big winter events is the coming of the migrant swans. These are bewicks and whoopers, who breed in the arctic circle but spend their winters further south. They fly in guided by the stars and most of them come as family units returning to the same places year after year. Climate change means that they aren’t all heading as far south or west as they used to, but we do still get them.

Swans aren’t the only birds migrating south – the local wetland centre at Slimbridge attracts different kinds of ducks and geese as well. Seeing them all is wonderful.

There is a very particular kind of magic that happens, when the light is fading from the day. Swans who have been feeding on the fields fly in to spend the night on ponds in the reserve. The slanting winter light catches them, and they appear to be glowing against the backdrop of the fading day. It makes the swans seem otherworldly, and it’s an incredibly beautiful thing to see.

I try to visit the swans at least once in the winter – I’ve managed to see them twice this year. I might get to see them again before they leave. Their timings are variably each year – temperature and wind direction play large roles in when they arrive and depart. However, around December and January they are a reliable presence in the local wetlands and magical to encounter.