Finland 2025

The summer of 2025 was truly remarkable when it came to freelance guiding. The well-known trio of large carnivores — brown bear, wolf and wolverine — was taken to an entirely new level during two tours with the ultimate sighting of an Eurasian lynx. These extraordinary encounters took place while searching for moose in and around Helsinki.

During the first observation, a juvenile individual was recorded lying motionless and partially concealed in the vegetation at the edge of a small field where several European brown hares were present.

During the second observation, a lynx was observed carrying a freshly captured hare in its mouth.

It is considered likely that both observations referred to the same individual. This assessment is based on the fact that both observations occurred at the same location and that the individual’s coat pattern showed corresponding characteristics.

A woodland location with an exceptionally high density of rodents turned out to be a summer refuge for Great Grey Owls. In broad daylight, these normally elusive birds could be observed at close range — an extraordinary experience and one I had never encountered before!

The tours also produced some fantastic sightings of wolverines and wolves, as well as remarkable interactions between these two iconic species. But the real highlight was undoubtedly a mother bear with her three cubs, who completely stole the show