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Fifty years before last summer, while leading a hike through a hemlock forest, a naturalist was exploring the night in the darkness. Headlamps lit the trail and were available to light up discoveries.
Following upstream above the Hudson River, a stop to light up the activity of stream life at night provided a window into what can’t be seen in daylight. Happenings in the dark are matched by each hiker’s expectations and reality on a night hike. Especially at night, a naturalist discovers unexpected activity and feelings resulting along the way.
Silence, darkness, imaginings, expectations, emotions, etc. become elements of the trip. Not needing to travel far, the group stop the trails crossing. Hemlock logs had been peeled and placed there. It was a perfect place – not to rest – but to sit, turn off head lamps and share feelings.
Thoughts surface and are almost anonymous in the total darkness of a 200-year-old forest. Then a discovery appeared where feet shuffled the bark on the ground below the logs. Picking up the bark in the darkness allowed for some examination because it was glowing.
Why do people explore outside during day or night? It is because of discoveries like this. Later it was realized that fungi can live on dead wood and disturbing the wood and exposing it to oxygen can create a reaction – bioluminescence. This has also been give the name Foxfire which was the title of a series of folklore books published in the 1970s.
The pictures in this article were taken recently and posted on the Ely Field Naturalists Google Group of a discovery of foxfire that was visible in the darkness on dead birch wood.
There are many ways to explore and learn about life occurring around us at night. Many life forms depend on the dark periods in any season of the year. Often for humans who work or explore during nighttime hours, darkness offers discoveries through occasional sights, sounds, stories, tracks, etc. provided by nature’s nightlife.
The Ely Field Naturalists welcome your knowledge, experiences, stories and companionships as we explore the dark side around us.
