New here — starting to pay more attention to what comes out at night

Nature Talk
1

Hey everyone,

Just joined iNaturalist recently. I’ve always liked being outside, but I’ve mostly paid attention to what I see during the day.

Lately I’ve started noticing how much different stuff seems to come out after dark, especially insects and frogs, and now I’m kind of curious about what I’ve been missing.

I’m still pretty clueless when it comes to identifying things, so I’m sure I’ll get plenty wrong at first. :sweat_smile:

For people who do a lot of night observations here, what are some things you’d recommend keeping an eye out for?

Looking forward to learning from everyone.

2

Is there a park – nature reserve – friends of – group you could join for a mothing night ?
Or for frog, insect, bird calls ? Then you can see which / what appeals to your interests.

Oh and consider https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/dark-skies-for-wildlife-looking-for-light-pollution-authority/25046 switch off unnecessary lights. Ours are movement activated, otherwise dark.

3

If you’re near the ocean, a lot of intertidal species come out of their hiding places after dark.

4

Hi, @Jareth! Welcome (and I really like your username, BTW).

You’ve gotten some really good suggestions, so far. Nocturnal insects aren’t limited to moths; I see a whole lot of lacewings after dark. Where you’ve got nocturnal insects, you’ve also got good potential for night-blooming flowers, bats, and birds.

A number of terrestrial mammals are also nocturnal, or at least crepuscular (mostly active at dawn and / or dusk). Bats (again), North American Porcupines, foxes, beavers, wild cats, mice and voles… there’s a whole ecosystem there that most people never get to see, and often don’t even think to look for. Depending on where you are, there are all sorts of things that you could observe.

Happy exploring! I look forward to seeing what you find. :smiley:

5

night time is great for spiders, among other arthropods! just walk around slowly and look closely at leaves, the ground, structures, etc. i used to spend several hours ‘nighthiking’ back before i was on iNat (and lived next door to a national forest…) - i wouldn’t cover much distance, but saw a lot of good stuff!

definitely try to attend a blacklight/mothing event (or hang a white sheet and shine UV light on it for a few hours, yourself)

6

These are my targets. Most have been mentioned already but I’ll summarize:

Spiders - be sure to check both ground and vegetation above. I wear a head band with various levels of illumination (can also help with the photos when not using my camera flash).

Harvestmen (Opilionoids)

Earthworms; and any other worm-type; and Centipedes; Millipedes;

Flies: there are some that seem more nocturnal (of course mosquitoes and I sometimes take a picture of those)

things that look like flies but are not (ha ha). There are some cool “others” out there at night.

Beetles: lots to find…

Orthopterans, esp katydids and crickets.

Moths of course; also caterpillars, esp if you carry a portable black light

Some mammals: skunk, fox (2 species), southern flying squirrel, white-tailed deer, oppossum, raccoon…

Frogs, salamanders, toads

Although I’m a bird person by day, I don’t pay much attention at night although I do enjoy the sounds of any owl.

I’m sure I’ve missed one or more but it’s time for bed… :upside_down_face:

I’m in the Southeastern US.

I use a “bridge” camera (Panasonic Lumix FZ1000; I used to use a Nikon or Canon point and shoot). I will use the flash on my camera, but note that it does change the color of the image; but the clarity is really nice. I will also use my Fenix headlamp which can be set to a very high output, but it’s a lot more awkward when I’m by myself (b/c I have to hold the flashlight to the side of the camera to get the best light coverage and that can cause me issues). In some situations, only the camera flash will suffice.

I try to remember to make a note about a given image being “flashed” when I upload to iNaturalist.

7

I’m in a similar place with trying too see things at night (I went blacklighting with my university’s bug club recently and it was fun). It’s really strange though, every time I step out of the house at night to look for things it’s like I’m a kid scared of the dark again! I mean anything could be out there in the grass or between the trees or whatever. I think that not being so scared comes with experience probably, but it still feels really weird to be outside at night.

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@ospreyj I get much more nervous at night, too. Every little sound…

In addition to the great ideas above, I would suggest going to someplace where there is water (a park, local pond, creek), AND where people are commonly found. Many ‘critters’ seem less nervous and are more likely to be out and about if people are where they normally are. For example, if there is a person (you) on a bench, at a picnic table, in a popular fishing spot, and are sitting quietly, that is where people normally are, so it is not an anomaly and animals may not be quite as leery, and to be more willing to come on down for a drink, to forage for food, etc., fairly close to you.

Some animals may avoid an area where people are common. Some of those - e.g. cougars, coyotes - I am, honestly, just as happy not to run into at night (especially alone), so that is fine with me.

If you are nervous about what ‘might be out there’ go with a friend, and stay within earshot of each other (in case of emergency), but maybe sit some distance apart, for example you sit at one picnic table and they sit at another a little ways away. Being still and quiet is a key part of it, in my experience, like many birders do.

9

bringing a friend also doubles the chances of seeing cool critters :D
of course finding a friend willing to go out in the woods at night can be difficult. keep going to things like bug-club-blacklight-nights and you’ll probably find one or two folks who’d be happy to get an invite to a nighthike

my headlamp has adjustable brightness, and a built-in feature that makes it turn up to full brightness when i tap the side. i tend to keep the light low, but that feature comes in handy when i hear noises nearby. it allays my nerves and presumably makes my presence more obvious to other large critters nearby.

if i’m alone and feeling uneasy, i’ve found that playing a podcast or audiobook from my phone makes me feel a little better. sort of sending a ‘humans are here’ message to the immediate area, since i’m not making enough noise to make my presence known.
of course this method disturbs the night sounds that i enjoy so much, so i’ve only utilized it a couple times over the years.

the most frightening animal i can imagine running into is a human. i wouldn’t be comfortable in my suburban woods at night, but get me into a national forest or nature preserve and it’s all good!
i have had the police called on me for poking around outside at night. visiting my ex-partner’s family and we took the dog out late at night, taking the opportunity to browse his yard for bugs. shortly after we went back inside and went to bed, police came to the door and talked to her uncle after a concerned neighbor called it in. like we were burglars… with a dog.

10

Birds and cicadas usually vocalize more during the day, but most other taxa that communicate audibly do it at night. This is the most accessible way to observe many species of frogs, katydids, and crickets, as well as night-singing cicadas and birds such as owls and nightjars.

The iNaturalist app can record audio and directly upload as an observation, or you can record it in another app (or external microphone) and upload the files on the website. Note that not everywhere in the world has great resources on audio identification, which is both frustrating and a cool opportunity to push the boundaries of our collective knowledge by making your own discoveries!

11

Night hikes are pretty great, you see a lot of neat things most people don’t see. Warm, windless nights are best in most cases, and many people will tell you that bright moonlight can reduce what you’ll see, but I’m not sure if there’s data behind that.

If you find yourself in a tropical rainforest, definitely go out if you can, or sign up for a night walk somewhere. That’s often when you’ll see the most amazing insects, and when reptiles and amphibians are more active. Just be careful about snakes when you’re out at night anywhere where snakes occur.

And if you can get a UV flashlight, that’s a great way to find scorpions, which all fluoresce under UV light, as well as other arthropods.

12

Night crawls are something I’ve been itching to do more of again, since I moved from a small-town house in the suburbs, to a condo very close to a large city’s downtown.

In my small-town days, it was easy to just walk down to some close great lakeside woods with great trails without any real worries. But now?

I read a few people mention night-observing attracting police attention in the cities, and I can tell you another increasingly common encounter: homeless people using the parks as sleeping spots.

I’ve seen them sometime sleeping along trails when I’ve gone for early morning ventures.

And the other thing that nobody has discussed is that many, if not most, public parks are technically closed after sunset.

Is it worth the risk? If like to hear more about how others handle night-observing in a city park environment.

13

I need to get a better camera… but ants and spiders do tend to come out more at night. It just sucks I can’t take photos.

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What camera do you have now? I might be able to help you with some of the cheap solutions I’ve come up with.

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Its a SANDMARC 100mm macro attachment on my iphone. It isn’t bad… just I need to get a proper camera. Or convince my dad to let me use his old Canon and just buy parts for that

16

Honestly I just leave my porch light on for a couple hours after dark and wait. I’ve spotted hundreds of species of bugs that way. No long trek or fancy equipment required!

18

Often my experience at light sheets, the only families out-diversifying Chironomidae are micro leps and Cecidomyidae. Granted habitat, time of year matter a lot, but I’ve numerous times got over 30 morphotypes / species of just Chironomidae from a single light sheet.

Although i have high bias and experience spotting chiros.