Garden Birds

Night. Darkness envelops the landscape. My imagination conjures images of winged beasties, scouring the shadows, screeching, hunting for the souls of the living.

It also conjures up images of a portly, bespectacled man sitting on his patio, quaffing glasses of wine with alarming regularity as the next sausage begins to sizzle on the barbeque.

So there I was, enjoying the evening air, drinking more than is officially good for me and eating more than I am officially capable of doing and I got to thinking about the company I was keeping.

Bats are regular visitors to the garden and I had always assumed that pretty much every bat I saw was a pipistrelle but since becoming an official night-nerd and purchasing a "bat-detector" (which sounds more like something Bruce Wayne would have strapped to his inner-thigh) I discovered that there's a lot more out there than you'd ever think.

There are 17 different species of bat in Britain and many of them are becoming increasingly rare due to the loss of habitat and the disturbance us humans inflict on them.

You might get to see a barn owl in flight

The greater horseshoe bat is especially sensitive to disturbance but the South West is the only place you will find one in Britain and it was with the aid of my trusty, crime-fighting bat-detector that I was able to identify one in the field near my home.

Rather than go into the wondrous way in which the detector works (sadly, it doesn't produce a beam of light with a bat-motif on it), it's far more interesting to say that in one night, I picked up three different species; pipistrelle, greater horseshoe and the brown long-eared bat.

Given that bats are renowned for eating over 3,000 insects in one night, I can only assume that the insect population of the South West is in rude health indeed, so a big well done to all you conservation-minded gardeners.

If you want to know what is in your garden at night, hang out a white sheet, shine a bright light on it and see what drops in to visit. Moths always hold a fascination and there are a great number in Britain, many with such extravagant names as the scarlet tiger, four-spotted footman and the grey dagger.

Wandering through a field at night might not be quite as luxurious as a delicate supper and tipple in the garden (and indeed might seem rather odd to some) but the variety of wildlife in the wee small hours is often worth an early evening diversion.

You might be lucky enough to see the pale shadow of the barn owl as the light begins to fade and what a sight it is. Its white silhouette contrasts with the darkening sky and it is one of the few creatures in the world that seems to actually emit silence.

Dormice are elusive (Andrew Taylor)

Small mammals come out for a rummage in the long grass too, which I must confess I always found rather odd.

If owls have adapted over the years to develop excellent vision in darkness, surely the dormouse or the water vole could have deduced that if they continue to expose themselves at night, the chances are that they will be devoured by any number of other carnivorous species.

Still, this doesn't seem to put them off as they happily rummage amongst the long grass and through the hedgerows, caring not a jot that they are making enough noise for human ears to hear them, let alone certain other, more single-minded creatures.

Speaking of which, it can be very difficult to see ground dwelling animals in the fading light but keeping your fox-like ears open can give great reward. Flick your torch onto the slightest rustle in the grass and who knows – a stoat or a weasel might be out on the hunt (it might be an idea to wear bicycle clips in case they beat a startled retreat up your trouser leg!).

So why not try it? Maybe it's not something to do regularly, but now and again, a late evening or night-time stroll can yield some really exciting results. As opposed to watching Dancing on Ice, which doesn't.

If you'd like advice on buying your own bat detector, or for books on moths and all sorts of other creatures, pop along to the RSPB's Shop at Darts Farm in Topsham (01392 879438).