I went on a night observation for the first time when I still worked for a foreign company in 1998. On a summer’s night in Taipei‚ I was chatting with my friend when he said to me suddenly‚ “Little Jie‚ let’s go to Maokong‚ shall we?” Then‚ we rode a bicycle to Muzha and found two rhinoceros beetles flying toward the street light. At that moment‚ we felt excited as if we discovered rare and precious treasure and our hearts beat like we were falling in love. When I was little‚ I lived at Liuzhangli in Taipei City. I used to play in the nearby mountain covered with graves‚ with my neighbors downstairs. At that time‚ the hillside was covered with nurseries of various plants. Butterflies flied around flower blossoms. Stag beetles‚ scarab beetles‚ long-horn beetles‚ locusts and mantises were often seen on paper mulberry trees‚ camphor trees‚ mulberry trees and Japanese silver grass among the graves. Thus‚ it had always been my favorite place for fun after school and on holidays ‚ until I was once invited by my senior male neighbor for a night cruise in the mountain. Without flashlights‚ we used saws to saw bamboo into sections. Then we made one section our torch‚ handle and wet some useless undergarments with oil and tucked them into the top of bamboo section. The lit torches could even be compared with an “Olympic Flame.” Under the leadership of the senior neighbor‚ a group of kids explored the chilly mountain covered with graves at night. While others anxiously used the torch to light up the road‚ I used the weak light of the torch to search for any possible places where insects appeared. That night‚ I found an Apriona germari (Hope‚ 1831) lying on a mulberry tree‚ and my companions shouted out and clamored toward me for observation. The senior neighbor said that it was “Wu-Ga-Wai” (rhinoceros beetle in Minnan dialect)‚ and then I turned over my spoils to him. I remembered vaguely that when we returned from the mountain‚ we heard a very unique sound coming from creatures in the woods. Feeling slightly frightened‚ we continued to carry the torch slowly forward‚ trying to figure out the source of the sound. All of a sudden‚ braches in front of us shook violently and I fell down losing my balance. My companions were so frightened they ran down the mountain yelling‚ “Ghost!!” Finally‚ I became the only one left so I had to walk down the mountain alone‚ recalling what had just happened. Today‚ I went to the mountain area for night observation in North Taipei with three friends of mine and found the sound I remember from childhood. We recognized the source of the sound and pointed the lights in our hands to the same place. There was a mahogany figure appearing on the branch in the dark. It turned out to be a Formosan giant flying squirrel‚ commonly seen in low-altitude mountain areas‚ moving around and looking for food on branches. When it felt something was amiss and tried to leave my friend‚ told us “Get your cameras ready. It’s going to fly.” Just at that moment I held up my camera‚ it leaped down from its perch (to be precise‚ it glided but did not fly down from the perch). I pressed the shutter button immediately without noticing whether I focused on it or not. Although the picture was a little blurry‚ one could catch a glimpse of its natural behaviors. Thus‚ I thought that this picture was very successful. When people told a story about Formosan giant flying squirrel‚ this photo could definitely bring everyone to experience the moment of “flying”!  A Formosan giant flying squirrel grasps tender leaves for food The moment a Formosan giant flying squirrel jumps and flies. Besides the flying squirrel‚ that night we also saw the figures of owls. These nocturnal birds mainly perched on branches in primitive forests‚ opening their big eyes and watching the movement on the ground. Any small animal moving in the hunting range would become a feast for the owls. It seemed like luck was on our side that night! Besides the continuous observation of close to 20 Otus spilocephalus‚ we also saw Ninox scutulata standing on the electric pole; however‚ cautious by nature as it was‚ it had flown away before we had our cameras ready. The biggest surprise that night was seeing Ketupa flavipes‚ the biggest owl in Taiwan taking the food. Although the picture did not come out clearly the touching feeling of seeing it in person could not be put into words. I took several pictures of Ketupa flavipes at night‚ but I failed to time it well. When I returned from the mountain ‚ I found one photo quite regrettable. At the moment I pressed the shutter button‚ it opened its wings and was ready to fly; the top of its wings exceeded the frame so the picture was not considered complete. My friends said that the picture was absolute failure in terms of aesthetic‚ but it was a good picture as an insight to their natural behaviors. That night the comfort from friends made a perfect end to the evening.  An Otus spilocephalus moves about in the forest at night 
An Otus spilocephalus absorbedly kept its eyes on the ground. 
A Ketupa flavipes stands on the electric pole like a king. 
One could see from its wings that this Ketupa flavipes was during its molt.
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