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Can spells from a staff or wand be counterspelled? This came up in a recent game and the GM thought that they could but I didn't think so. I thought I saw somewhere that you have to observe the spell being cast which you couldn't do with a spell from a staff but I can't find requirement in the counterspell rules now.
To perform a counterspell:
1) Ready an action to counterspell a specific target (so if you pick the wizard, you cannot counter the bard's spell).
2) If the target attempts to cast a spell, make a spell craft check (DC 15+spell level). If you succeed, you have identified the spell and may continue.
3) If you have the identified spell prepared, you cast the same spell and the target spell is considered countered.
If using Dispel Magic, step 3 requires a dispel check (1d20 + caster level with DC of 11 + spell's caster level)
So you need to perceive the caster cast the spell and have line of effect to the caster.
The key point to your question is that activating a staff counts as casting the spell according to the wording in the rules: "Staves use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a staff is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity."