Dusk till dawn: The secret world of night creatures in towns and cities

Moths are as soft as the night

Some moths only come out at night, seeking nectar from night-flowering plants. If you want to see them, you’ll need to go to the places where they’re feeding, such as parks, gardens or canals. 

Once you’re there, you can entice certain moths and insects to you with a light. If you're in your garden, you can get a really good look by making yourself a light trap by shining a light onto a white sheet. You can also join a local group as they might be running a trapping night in a local park or by a canal. 

See how many different insects and moths you can spot! They should land on the sheet and stay there for a little while, allowing you to get up close and have a good look at them.

Not all moths are attracted to light, some are attracted to strong, sweet smells. To lure these moths, you can make a brew of cheap wine and sugar and then soak it into an old rope or piece of material or old clothing. Place the soaked material outside and then watch to see what hungry moths come to investigate. 

The moths that live in our cities and towns tend to be species that can drink pollen from a variety of plants. These urban moths are also more likely to move around a larger area and be found in more types of habitat than rural moths.

Your moth trap might attract the wonderfully named grey pug, plume moths, red underwing, light brown apple moth, common quaker or large emerald. 

You might even see an elephant hawk moth, which feeds from honeysuckle and other flowers that are shaped like a tube. These stunning moths feed at night in parks, woodlands and gardens all over England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. 

How to see a bat move around in the dark

Bats can roost in a range of places including trees, caves, buildings and even in gaps in mortar in bridges. They emerge after sunset and head to gardens, parks, rivers or canals to feed on insects. 

If you wait in these places at dusk, you might be able to see a bat flying around, especially if there’s still a little light in the sky. Some of the earliest species to emerge are the common pipistrelle and noctule bats. You might see their rapid flight patterns silhouetted against the sky near trees or over water. 

The most common bat that you are likely to see, the common pipistrelle, are feeding their pups in June and July in very predictable shifts. In late summer in August and September, you’ll see the most bats out and about, as all the new pups are exploring the world. At this time of year, however, bat behaviour is a little more chaotic.   

Bats need the dark and have evolved to hunt and move in complete darkness. Find out how the light of cities and towns are affecting bat behaviour.

How to see a hedgehog snuffle around in the darkness

Hedgehogs are active at night and can travel up to a one and a half kilometres each evening as they roam around snuffling in the leaves, looking for food. 

For evidence of their nightly activities, you can try to spot hedgehog poo, which looks a bit like cat poo, but instead of a pointy end, a hedgehog poo has a round end.  

The State of British Hedgehogs 2022 report found that urban hedgehog numbers are stable and might even be increasing, while rural hedgehog numbers are in decline. They found that urban green spaces, grassland and playing fields had about 20-50 hedgehogs every square kilometre.

How to see foxes hunt at night

You can see foxes easily in cities and towns as they move around the streets at night looking for food. Urban foxes eat anything from scavenged food to birds, mammals, earthworms and insects.

In the dark of a winter’s night, you might even hear what sounds to our ears as a harrowing scream that actually are the mating sounds made by female foxes.

In spring and summer evenings, you might be lucky enough to see fox cubs as they leave the den and start exploring the world. 

How to take photographs of animals at night

We asked our photographer Lucie Goodayle how to take the best photos of animals at night. Here’s Lucy’s top tips: 

• Make the ISO quite high, this can create slightly grainier images but will give you a lighter image. Make sure if you’re on a manual setting that the shutter speed doesn’t go too low otherwise the image will be blurry if you’re not using a tripod.
  
• Use a tripod and a slightly slower shutter speed, although this will only work if the animal is still.
• Use a flashlight or torch, but be careful when doing this, as it could alarm or distress the animal.
• Use a sensor-led light strip and aim on a spot where the light hits. Have the camera on a tripod and do a couple of tests shots and wait very quietly.  
• If you have them use an infrared camera or film, though these are mainly used by professionals. 

Find out more on how to take ethical photos of wildlife. 

Three ways to explore your local night life

Catch a nightingale sonnet

If there’s a bit of woodland nearby, you might be lucky enough to hear a nightingale, as they prefer to perch in tree thickets. You’ll most likely hear a nightingale before you see it. Blackbirds also sing at night, especially near the glow of streetlights.

Plant a night garden

You can attract moths to your home by planting a night garden on your balcony or in your garden. Plants that flower in the evening, such as honeysuckle, night-scented stock or night-flowering catch-fly, all provide moths and other species with pollen. Bats will be attracted to the insect banquet as well. 

Learn about your local bats

A local bat group can help you learn a lot about the bats that might be living in your areas. Check out your local nature reserve, Wildlife Trust, or bat group to find a bat walk near you. On a bat walk you’ll have access to bat detectors which will help find and identify bats in the dark by listening in to their echolocation calls. If you’re heading out in late summer, you might even see some of this year's pups flying around.