It's usually more productive to stake out one area for a while than to wander all over, dispersing your scent and making noise. Take a good-sized flashlight, and cover the lens with a circular piece of red plastic wrap, or thin plastic sheet cut to size. I love to explore the edges of lakes and rivers at night. All sorts of animals crayfish, salamanders, frogs and snakes, fish, large aquatic insects, and other weird and wonderful things are prowling in the shallows, right next to shore. If I see something really neat, like a big fish or a salamander, I move the light away so it won't be startled.
Ears become even more important for locating and identifying wildlife.
If it's spring or summer, a nocturnal symphony of frogs may be performing. June beetles, praying mantis, and other large insects are on the move. Bats flutter and dive through the night sky in pursuit of smaller insects. Originally developed for law enforcement and military use, night-vision goggles or viewers reveal the nighttime world in a soft, greenish light, and provide an entirely new dimension to wildlife viewing after sunset. All rights reserved.