One of my favourite ways to spend time outdoors is wildlife watching. Whether I’m looking for mammals, birds, butterflies or insects, there’s always something new to spot, and it’s a wonderful way to connect with nature.
Here are the first five of my wildlife watching experiences.
1. Moose watching, near Helsinki, Finland. August 2025.
Moose, or elk, are the largest species of deer species. Although relatively common in the Finnish countryside, they’re best seen at dawn or dusk when they come out to graze in fields. Hence the reason we took an evening commuter train out of Helsinki to meet our tour guide at Tolsa railway station.
Petri drove us around for a couple of hours looking for moose. We spotted hares, cranes and lots of deer but no moose. Just as we were thinking it was time to give up Petri spotted a moose emerging from the woodland. He set up his telescope, and with the help of his thermal imaging scope we all managed to see it. Of course, things come in threes so on the way back to catch the last evening train we saw another two moose and some raccoon dog puppies!
2. Fox watching, Brighton. September 2025.
I know that some people aren’t fox fans, but I love how they have adapted to survive alongside humans in cities and towns.
We stayed with friends in Brighton and they are lucky to have foxes who regularly pop by for food. It was a joy to watch them, and I’d be delighted to have foxes in my garden—I’d certainly prefer them to the neighbourhood cats that seem to treat it as their personal toilet.
3. Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. April 2026.
Corcovado has been described as the most biologically intense place on Earth. It was certainly one of the highlights of our trip to Costa Rica.
Reached by a 1 hour boat trip from Drake Bay (which itself is already remote), visitor numbers are strictly limited and entry is with a licensed guide only. There are bag checks upon entering -no food or plastic water bottles are allowed.
We saw plenty of animals, many of them seemingly unconcerned by our presence. They included tapir, anteater, several breeds of monkey, sloth, coatimundi, peccaries and coatis. Our guide had a telescope to help find the trickier animals, and he was very happy to take photos through it for us.
4. Bird watching, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, April 2026
San Gerardo de Dota is a sprawling mountainous village high up in the cloud forest. We primarily visited to go on a tour to see the resplendent quetzal (which we saw) but the highlight of our trip was the sheer number and variety of birds in the area.
We spent two afternoons sitting on the terrace at Miriam’s cafe, watching hummingbirds, toucanets, tanagers, woodpeckers and many more visiting the bird feeders.
I discovered that hummingbirds can be surprisingly aggressive towards one another despite their tiny size. As for the much-hyped resplendent quetzal, I have to admit that it reminded me of a green pheasant. It was undoubtedly beautiful, but I preferred the toucanet!
5. Birds of Poole harbour boat tour. May 2026.
Poole Harbour is made up of several different habitats, and a local conservation charity organises boat tours to see the birdlife. In reality, most people are here to see the two species for which the harbour is best known – the osprey and the white-tailed eagle. We were fortunate enough to spot both, although only at distance through binoculars. The knowledgeable guides also helped us identify a variety of other birds along the way, making the trip an enjoyable introduction to the harbour’s wildlife.
Challenge partly complete
Challenge partly completed. Pop over to read the full list of my 60 things to do before I’m 60.