Many of us who enjoy nature, wildlife or just live outdoors have one thing in common – we all love to have outdoor sensory experiences. Like the view of the flowing river, the touch of the cool breeze in the mountains, the smell of the forest, the call/song of the birds. These are rarely experienced in the confines of our homes, especially for urban dwellers, who are mostly away from nature while connected to laptops, mobiles and headphones.
People have resorted to various activities to experience the joy of being outside – hiking or trekking, bird watching, wildlife safaris, etc. One has to wonder, can we experience this buffet of sensory inputs even at night, when much of the world is asleep? There is a simple answer to this question, yes.
There are innumerable creatures that are active at night and are rarely seen during the day. For city dwellers, the barn is occasionally broken into the stillness of the night by the screams of owls, moths swaying around bulbs, bats flying around Singapore’s cherry trees, or the glow of glowworms.
For the more adventurous and nature-lovers among us, venturing out into the dark in search of the nocturnes of our planet (mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, frogs, to name a few) is almost like waking up our sixth sense. One hint of uncertainty about what the reward of being out at night would be is always a degree of surprise.
To make the experience of exploring nature at night more productive, one needs to be well equipped.
Personally, I go out at night looking for reptiles, insects, etc. To be able to see in the dark, it is important to have a good flashlight. Over 1000 lumens flashlight provide enough range and brightness for night viewing. Other aspects that need attention are the size, battery life, and type of battery. A small and handy flashlight provides comfort for long usage and it is important to have enough battery life as there is usually no room to charge. Fenix and Nightcore are the best selling brands in the market, both offering a number of models each having some degree of variation in the above mentioned features. The following models offer a good mix of these features: the Nightcore (MH12V2, MH25GT, MH25S, MH12S) and the Fenix (UC35V2).
Some of these flashlights also come with a UV light feature, which is very helpful if you want to see scorpions at night – as they glow under UV light (as shown above).
A bamboo pit viper clicked in Kolar
photo credit: Krishna Murthy
For those looking to keep hands free while on the go, Nightcore offers some of the best head torch models you can own, like the HC60 and HC65 buy online very.
For those interested in observing mammals at night, a pair of binoculars (aim > 40, which determines the amount of light collected by the telescope) with a good-range flashlight will be helpful. Personally, I use the Carl Zeiss Terra 10×42, which is sleeker and lighter to carry around with the harness that comes with it. One should also choose binoks that are water-resistant or waterproof, so that they can be carried even during rains. Other models in the same budget range include the Nikon Monarch 7 (8×42).
Don’t wait any longer, prepare yourself to be surprised by what the dark has to offer.
I am an engineer by profession and work for a semiconductor chip designing company. In addition to work, I try to take the time to look at the natural history around me. With the advent of online platforms such as eBird And naturalist, which are citizen science projects, I document my observations by uploading visuals to these websites. I try to encourage others to do the same.
I would like to thank Shankar for suggesting various instruments for night observation.
This is an initiative by the series Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), under its program ‘Nature Communications’ to promote nature content in all Indian languages. Join to learn more about birds and nature herd.
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