Wild Helsinki: Barnacle Geese, Bay Birds and Flying Squirrels

The natural side of Helsinki, from the barnacle geese of its seaside parks and the birds of the Vanhankaupunginlahti bay to the islands of the archipelago and the forests and lakes of Nuuksio National Park, with a directory of the parks in our guide and our guide to Lapland.

Helsinki is a capital by the sea, built around bays and islands, with forest at its back. In summer, barnacle geese graze the lawns of its seaside parks; in the bay of the Old Town, the City of Helsinki counts some 300 species of bird; and half an hour away, the forests and lakes of Nuuksio National Park are home to the elusive flying squirrel.

This is a short, honest guide to Helsinki's natural side: the bay, the islands and the forest. For the wilder north, the reindeer, the bears and the northern lights, our Lapland guide takes over.

In the heart of Helsinki, a bay draws some 300 kinds of bird.

Birds of the bay

Vanhankaupunginlahti, the bay of the Old Town, is a unique natural area and an internationally significant one for birds, right in the heart of the city. About 300 bird species have been found around the bay, more than a third of them nesting, and it is home to many endangered or rare birds, insects, bats and polypore fungi. Its largest nature reserve is Viikki-Vanhankaupunginlahti, with an accessible boardwalk, a nature trail and birdwatching spots easily reached by public transport.

Elsewhere in the city, barnacle geese, birds of the Arctic, graze the seaside parks and shores through the summer.

The islands and the forest

Helsinki's islands begin at the edge of the Market Square: Vallisaari, next to Suomenlinna, has nature trails, and Harakka lies just off Kaivopuisto. West of the city, in Espoo, Nuuksio National Park is a landscape of forest, lakes and granite ridges, with Haltia, the Finnish Nature Centre, at its edge. Its old spruce forests are home to the Siberian flying squirrel, the subject of an EU LIFE project to protect its habitats in the Nuuksio area.

Feature: north to Lapland

For Finland's great wilderness, head north. Lapland, reached from Helsinki by the Santa Claus Express night train or a short flight, is the land of reindeer, of Sámi culture and of the northern lights over deep winter snow. Our Lapland guide covers its resorts, its wildlife park at Ranua and the Sámi museum at Inari, and our Christmas in Lapland page the season of the reindeer sleigh.

Did you know? Barnacle geese, birds that breed in the Arctic, were first recorded nesting in Helsinki in 1989; today they are one of the most familiar birds of the city's summer shore.

Our advice

Our advice: take a bus or tram to Viikki early on a spring or autumn morning, when the migration is in full swing, and bring binoculars for the bird towers; walk the trails of Nuuksio from Haltia. Keep to the boardwalks in the reserves, never feed the geese, and follow the right of public access: roam freely, but leave no trace.