Photographing birds at night?

Hi,

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As I am still a begginer with birds, I would like to get some advice on how to take pictures of them.

How do you photograph birds at night? Do you use a flash or bring a flood lamp, etc? I am particularly interested in bats. I've taken a few pcitures before but it was too dark to get a decent picture even at wide open f2.8 on a tripod. I did not use a flash, fearing that I would give them a heartattack! :) I am asuming alot of night birds like bats and owls are very sensitive to lights(or intesive flash burst). Am I worrying too much?

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And again, can you get a decent shoots of birds(in general) at night or is it pretty hard since they are moving too much (assuming no flash involved)?

and how should one approcah them at night (w/ what equipment)?

I don't think I'm going to be very helpful, but here goes. Get

experience in photographing birds during the day first! Night

photography isn't easy. You need all the skils of daytime

photography <em>plus</em> a knowledge of flash techniques, all

with the added difficulty of working in the dark where it's

hard to see both your equipment and your subject(s). If you can't

get decent pictures during the day, your chances of doing so

at night are slim to none. You may not find bats to photograph much,

but owls are around during daylight.

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Oh, and bats, of course, are mammals, not birds!

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Read the section on the home page under <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/nature/owlflash.html">Field Ethics</a> for info on

the effects of flash on animals.