Swan Haven Interpretation Centre

Swan Haven Interpretation Centre will be open daily from April 1st to 30th, 2008. Finding Swan Haven Interpretation Centre

A biologist interpreter will be available to answer questions during these hours:

• Weekdays 5pm to 9pm
• Weekends 12pm to 7pm

Who's at M'Clintock Bay now?

NEW! Yukon Energy Swan Cam (April 1 until mid-May)

It's a pretty noisy place in April...

• Tundra Swan in Flight  (Media file)
• Trumpeter Swan Calls  (Media file)

M'Clintock Bay on Marsh Lake hosts a spring spectacle of returning swans and other water birds not to be missed. Featuring the first open water in the region, the bay has many attractions for early migrants. Shallow water and access to food, good visibility and little disturbance adds to the benefits this bay offers waterbirds, making it a critical stopover on the long migration to northern nesting grounds.

How Swan Haven Interpretation Centre came to be...

In April 1994, Swan Haven Interpretation Centre (641Kb PDF) opened on the shores of M'Clintock Bay. From meagre beginnings when biologists and bird watchers set up spotting scopes on the bank, Swan Haven now offers visitors an interpretive centre, interpretive panels indoors and out, daily swan counts, activities and more. In 1995 the Celebration of Swans truly got underway with a weekend of special events, storytelling, children's activities and a concert. In 1996 the Celebration of Swans expanded to include two weekends and the entire third week of April. This timeframe, which continues today, matches the peak visitation of swans and other water birds.

Late March, April and early May are the best times to visit Swan Haven Interpretation Centre. Trumpeter and Tundra swans, wigeons, Canada Geese, Northern Pintails, shorebirds, eagles and other predators abound in this small bay, easily seen from the observation decks.

Join a viewing walk with interpreters and find out how the migration is unfolding, or relax on a viewing deck. Inside you'll find interpretive displays and information about the birds found here in the spring.

Bringing your class to Swan Haven

Each year in April classes from Yukon, Alaska and British Columbia visit Swan Haven Interpretation Centre for a morning or afternoon to learn about swans, the importance of habitats like this one and to view the swans and other water birds. Typically about 1000 children come to Swan Haven with their classes each year.

We welcome grades 2 through 6, as these ages and grade levels are best suited to learning about the birds. Older classes may also make special appointments with biologists. Interpreters on hand offer visiting classes a variety of activities and experiences, such as outdoor games such as 'Migration Headache' and 'Swan Dance Relay Race'. Indoor activities include story telling, word search puzzles, migration mapping, and bird biology exercises.

Outside on shore we take classes and spotting scopes for a 'look em in the eye' kind of view of the swans, and fill the Swan Haven Birding Passport (143Kb PDF) with birds that visitors can identify right there on the ice. Rounding out a visit is an education package that is delivered to the class ahead of time, with pre-visit and post-visit activities that teachers can do in the classroom.

In order to accommodate most of the requests to visit Swan Haven Interpretation Centre, the last three weeks of April are set aside, Monday to Friday, excluding Wednesdays. Classes are welcomed, up to two classes in a group, either 9:45am to 12:00noon or 12:30pm to 2:15pm. Groups are welcome to use the grounds for their lunch break (12:00 to 12:30), however interpreters are not available during that time.

For bookings and more information, contact:

Wildlife Viewing Program
Environment Yukon, V-5A
Phone: (867) 667-8291
Toll free (in Yukon) 1-800-661-0408, ext. 8291
Fax: (867) 393-6263
Email: wildlife.viewing@gov.yk.ca

How many swans are there?
Swan numbers fluctuate widely every spring. Weather is the biggest factor in determining how many swans can be found at any one time at M'Clintock Bay. Since 1972 swan numbers have been counted, and by 1986 the count was expanded to cover a full 5-week period. During the peak of the migration (usually during the third week of April) as many as 2600 swans have been counted at Swan Haven. Click here to find out more about Spring Birds at Swan Haven (2.94Mb PDF).

Figure 1: The average number of swans visible from Swan Haven on a given day during the month of April over the last 17 years.

Figure 2: Daily swan numbers visible from Swan Haven over the past five years.

Link to the Trumpeter Swan Society website for swan information across North America.

We would like to thank the Trumpeter Swan Society for the Trumpeter and Tundra Swan Audio clips at the top of the page.

See you at Swan Haven!

The Swan
by Mary Oliver

Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -
an armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees
Like a waterfall knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
A white cross streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?