WHEN THE LIGHT GOES
Let your eyes catch up
Darkness is not really immediate.
We experience it that way because our lives are full of artificial light. Walk from a brightly lit room into the night and for the first few moments there may be very little there. Your eyes have been adjusted for indoors and suddenly they are being asked to deal with almost no light at all.
Wait.
Do not start walking somewhere rough or unfamiliar just to prove that you can see in the dark. If you need a torch, use one.
But somewhere safe, give yourself ten or fifteen minutes. Shapes begin appearing. What looked completely black separates into different shades. Trees become trees again rather than one dark wall. You may see the line of a hill or realise there is enough moonlight to pick out the path.
Your eyes are catching up.
Don't undo it with your phone
If you intend to sit outside for a while, keep the phone brightness low. A red torch is useful because it disturbs dark-adapted vision less than a bright white light.
That does not mean stumbling around because you feel obliged to preserve your night vision. Safety wins. Always.
Watch the sky instead
If something moves, resist the urge to blast it with a torch.
This matters particularly around bat roosts. Bat Conservation Ireland advises against shining lights directly at a roost entrance because it can delay bats emerging or stop them coming out altogether.
Whatever lives there already knows you are outside. You do not need to introduce yourself with a spotlight.
Sit somewhere
Go into a shelter if there is one. Sit down. Turn the light off.
Don't immediately start trying to see something.
Let the night arrive properly.