How to Watch Deer at Night

If you love wild animals, you are probably thrilled every time you spot some. They tend to be hard to spot in the city and highly populated areas, but even rural areas sometimes rarely see them during daylight. Night time is the best time to spot certain types of wildlife, particularly deer. Here are some tips for how to watch deer at night.

First find a spot that is known for deer to gather. This might be an apple orchard, a field of clover, or anywhere where deer might find food or go to drink water. You can find signs of deer by looking for tracks, droppings, and trails through the woods—look for places in the trees and bushes where leaves and have been pushed aside as a deer walked through.

You may want to carry a pair of binoculars. Binoculars will allow you to see deer closer than you would otherwise. Deer are extremely difficult to get close to as they can hear very well, and they have sharp vision. They also spook very easily.

Night vision binoculars or night vision goggles are also great for observing wildlife such as deer at night time. While pointing a flashlight or the headlights of your car at a deer might frighten it away before you can even really watch it, night vision equipment is designed to allow you to see at night without disturbing what you are watching.

Always be careful not to disturb animals or people when watching wildlife at night. Stay safe, and always obtain permission to be in a certain place at night.

How to Buy a Pair of Binoculars

When buying a pair of binoculars, there are few considerations to think through, such as what the intended use of the binoculars is. Are they to be bird watching binoculars? Will you use them to look at the stars or watch wildlife?

Another thing to think about is the magnification. What is recommended for your particular hobby? Sherwoods Photographic recommends an 8x or 10x magnification binoculars for general usage.

You should also test out a pair before buying it where possible. You can adjust the focus by turning the focussing wheel. Most binoculars should work for most people even if you have eyesight problems.

It’s also best to purchase a small lightweight pair as these are much easier to carry around on long hikes or expeditions, and you are much more likely to bring them if they don’t weigh a lot.

Always purchase from a company that is professional and knows what its doing. If you are at all unsure about the company’s legitimacy or safety, especially when purchasing online, you should find a site that is secure. Look for the padlock symbol in the URL bar to ensure that your card details are safe while you are paying for your items.

If you aren’t sure which bird watching binoculars, or other ones, to buy, you can always contact Sherwoods Photographic to find out which ones they would recommend for the particular hobby you are pursuing. They are sure to have something for everyone.

Stargazing as a Hobby

If you love nature, and you love a beautiful night sky full of stars, then maybe stargazing is the hobby for you. It can be as simple or complicated as you want, and you can easily do it alone or with a whole group of people!

For those just starting out, you don’t really need any equipment. You can sit in your own back garden in a lawn chair and admire the night sky. You can take a camera and a notebook and photograph and write about what you observe. But you don’t have to. You can just sit there and drink in the beauty around you.

If you want to get a little more complicated, why not try using telescopes? You can get simple ones or even astronomical telescopes depending on how much you want to spend and how serious you are about your hobby. Telescopes are not necessary but they very useful for identifying particular constellations and stars.

If you want to get a better view than you can in your back garden, why not pack up and go camping or visit a national park at night? If necessar,y make sure that you obtain permission to visit the park after hours.

You can also join clubs and informal groups that go stargazing together. This might be a good way for a beginner to get some useful information and meet other people interested in this hobby.

To shop for astronomical telescopes, try Sherwoods Photographic or any store that sells telescopes and other such equipment.

Watching Wildlife

Watching wildlife is a fun hobby for people of all ages. You can do it in your back garden, in national parks, in the mountains, fields, and even in the city if you know where to look. If you love animals, watching wildlife is definitely something you’ll want to try.

Here are some things you will need: binoculars (night vision ones are great if you plan on watching some night-time wild life such as deer), a camera, a journal or notebook to record your sightings, and if you plan to be out for hours—a pack lunch and some water. Of course you can also take things like bird seed if you want to feed some birds while you are watching them.

When watching wildlife, you should always take great care not to disturb the animals. Try to keep at a distance so that they either don’t know you’re there, or they are not scared of you. That’s why using binoculars is such a good idea. The animals that come out at night feel safer under cover of darkness, so using night vision equipment is especially useful in this case.

If you ever spy a wounded animal, try to report it to some wildlife authorities or the RSPCA so that someone can help it.

Take some photos of your sightings and make a scrap book or journal of your wildlife adventures. This way you can show all your friends and family the animals you’ve sighted, and maybe someday you’ll inspire some of your children or grandchildren to start their own hobby of watching wildlife.

Planning a Bird Watching Hike

If you love birds, bird watching is a great hobby for you. Taking a long bird watching hike is a good way to spy many different types of birds in one outing. Some of the national parks and trails make good places to look for birds. Here are some tips to help you plan a bird watching hike.

First, make sure to bring your binoculars.  Regular binoculars will do, of course, but you can get special bird watching binoculars. You’ll want these both for watching and identifying birds but also for enjoying the scenery. Bird watching binoculars are really the only equipment necessary for this hobby.

You may also want to bring a camera. Of course it’s not necessary, but if you like to make scrap books or journals, you may enjoy keeping a photographic record of all the birds that you see. It’s also good for identifying birds later on if you aren’t able to do so on the spot.

If you’re taking a hike, you should always bring some food and water, and even if the weather is warm when you set out you should also take a jumper or coat in case it gets cold later on.

When hiking in national parks or on mountains, be sure to find out the rules and regulations for that area before you take your hike. Always bring all your rubbish back out with you, and make sure that someone knows where you are so that if you get lost they will be able to alert the authorities when you don’t arrive home on time.