I have used night vision equipment for about 10 years. Using infra-red mode, animal eyes will produce eye-shine, but not as pronounced as spotlighting. The "nightscope" was clear enough to distinguish between Yellow-bellied Gliders and Greater Gliders at about 9meter focusing distance and I was able to avoid disturbing these animals with spotlights, as they were in adjacent trees about 20meters apart. The scope has been very useful in following smaller nocturnals, both aboreals and ground species as well,

The infra-red mode does not usually make vegetation reflect infra-red unless there is a waxing moon and then its a little more difficult to distinguish nocturnal animals. It is also possible to "stalk" species for closer viewing and observing. Animals did not react to infrared mode by "freezing" and I once observed sugar gliders for some 35minutes as they chased each other in low branches,about 4 meters away(3 animals)

You would probably need an additional infra-red spotlight if you are observing on exposed areas such as mudflats. There are both monocular and binocular versions of night vision gear and the latter probably have greater focus range adjustment than the monocular versions(the one I have). For prolonged viewing I needed to carry extra batteries, especially if using infra-red mode for extended time, and this is one disadvantage with night vision equipment

Thanks Deryk.

I purchased a Xenonics SuperVision monocular during the week from Night Vision Australia. I haven't had the opportunity to test it in the field yet, but when tested under "dark room" conditions (lights off in a windowless store-room), the results were quite impressive. The image under these conditions was far better than Gen 2 night-vision optics and just as good, if not better, than some Gen 3 optics that I tested at the same time.

It has a 2X - 8X zoom lens and is lightweight (570 g). It can be used during the day, as well as at night, unlike other night vision optics on the market.

The downside is that it has a hand strap (camcorder style) rather than a neck strap, the rechargeable 3.7 V Li-ion battery only lasts up to 2 hrs and it took me half a day of running around town to find a spare rechargeable battery with the same physical dimensions. Like most (if not all) night vision instruments, it looks fragile, so probably wouldn't tolerate being dropped on the ground or bumped about during transportation.

The cost of the SuperVision monocular was about $1400. Under dark room conditions, the sharpness of the image in the dark was, in my opinion better than other night vision optics in the $575 to $2,700 price range, but not as good as a Gen 3 night vision instrument that was valued at $5,700.

Can't wait to test it under field conditions.

Hi Stephen,

Arthur White has used night vision goggles to observe teh movments of Green and Golden Bell Frogs. You may wish to contact him for additional information on this.

Has anyone used infrared spotlights, or spotlights with infrared filters, to detect nocturnal animals? Do these spotlights produce eye-shine in animals as much as normal spotlights? Does the surrounding vegetation (e.g. foliage) reflect the infrared light to the extent that it is difficult to detect nocturnal animals, even if there is eye-shine? Do animals react to infrared spotlights in the same way as normal spotlights (e.g. avoidance of bright lights or adopting the frozen stance).

I'm also in the process of planning a project that will require both diurnal and nocturnal observations of wader behaviour. Has anyone tried using night vision goggles or other night vision optics (binoculars or monoculars) to observe nocturnal animal behaviour? If so, would you recommend them and what would you recommend? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using night vision optics? I understand that night vision optics come with an infrared light source, but does that need to be supplemented with a more powerful infrared spotlight if looking for animals over longer distances (e.g. large expanses of exposed mudflats)?