Wildlife & Birdwatching in Estonia by Car

The most important wetland for migratory birds in the entire Baltic region. Up to 3 million birds pass through in spring and autumn. The park has 11 observation towers, coastal meadows, and reed beds that stretch to the horizon.

A professional bird-ringing station on Estonia's southernmost wild beach. Each September, hundreds of thousands of raptors, waders, and passerines funnel along this coast. Scientists and birders come from across Europe for the autumn count.

A strict nature reserve with one of the best-preserved raised bogs in the Baltics. Home to cranes, white-tailed eagles, and osprey. The boardwalk through the bog is open to visitors and ends at a lake used as a crane staging area.

Estonia's largest protected floodplain forest — a vast mosaic of flooded meadows, old-growth forest, and river channels. Breeding ground for black storks, lesser spotted eagles, and the globally rare aquatic warbler.

The lower Emajõgi river floods its banks every spring, creating shallow lakes that attract tens of thousands of ducks and geese. In April the spectacle rivals anything in Western Europe — and almost no tourists.

A remote peninsula jutting into Matsalu Bay, famous for its ancient wooded meadows and rare orchid-rich grasslands. The combination of coastal forest, limestone pavement, and sheltered bay makes it the most botanically rich place in Estonia — and a superb birding site.