A Big Night Out

Friday Night: The end of a long week. A chance to unwind, let your hair down and catch up with some mates. Many favour the nocturnal lure of bars and clubs, the pumping beats and free-flowing alcohol, the staggering home clutching on for dear life to your kebab and what's left of your dignity. While there's certainly a time and place for that, this Friday I opted for something a little different.


Peppered Moth

 

Cinnabar Moth

 

I went camping. Not the rugged sort of tramping where you hike 26 miles into remote territory surviving on nothing but a cereal bar and lucozade tablets. Instead a genteel, easy-going sort of thing where we drove our tents, chairs and table into a field and pitched up. We brought food, camping stoves, some beers and cider, seats and a table, and of course marshmallows, all in the hopes of spending a little time chatting and relaxing in peaceful surroundings, and indulging in a little night-time wildlife extravaganza.


Scorched Wing Moth

 

Burnished Brass Moth 

In the last light of day we spotted red kites drifting lazily overhead, a woodpecker flying back and forth, the swifts screaming past. As darkness fell we could hear the eerie call of the stone-curlew and plaintive lapwing dialogue in the adjacent field. As we walked for an hour in the dark there was unidentified shrieking, scuffling and scratching from the undergrowth near by. In the night I heard footsteps of small animals and arose to a bright morning filled with birdsong: skylarks announcing the new day, yellowhammer rattling atop the nearest hedge, and whitethroat scratching along the scrub behind the tent. The moth trap had worked wonders, with a huge array of sizes and shapes, colours and contrasts. Some moths were plain, others patterned, some furry and others holding delicate antennae out before them. A few rogue spiders and a large beetle infested with mites had joined them. A small blue butterfly flew past, briefly distracting us from the myriad moth collection, and whites and brimstone were on the wing too.

White Ermine Moth

 

Buff Ermine Moth



All of this was there to see without any effort, hiding in plain site. The accessibility of nature and the sheer diversity of life that passes us by when we don't stop to look is astonishing. Yes a moth trap is useful, and a tent and a field, but spend a night outside anywhere and see what happens. We rely so much on our eyes but the night takes that from us, leaving our other senses heightened and adrenaline pumping harder than any beat could induce. Take a walk without a torch and let your eyes grow accustomed. Sit and listen to the sounds close at hand. Delve into the undergrowth for all the mini-beasts that would ordinarily pass you by.

Small Elephant Hawkmoth

 

Buff-Tip Moth

Whether with friends of family, or even on your own, the experience of sleeping out among nature is open to all of us, and now is a great time to do it. The RSPB is organising a 'Big Wild Sleep Out' with events across the country. But even without that, get out in your garden for the night and see what you can find. You will experience something new, something different, and get a huge buzz from it without waking up with a headache next to a half-eaten burger.