No problem. I don't think you'll much trouble shooting in the woods during the daytime, but night is another issue. I tend to agree with your sentiment about high definition, but the inexpensive consumer HD cameras all have some limitations. Glad that you aren't rushing into this too fast.
The Sony VX series is really the best if your main priority is low light, but it's somewhat older technology and is what we call a "4:3 native" camcorder. In other words, its sensor is shaped like an older 4:3 TV screen (more square than the newer 16:9 TV's). So if you want to view your videos on a widescreen TV it isn't the best choice. The VX series can shoot video in the 16:9 (widescreen) format, but the quality will not be as good as a "16:9 native" camcorder. All High Definition camcorders are 16:9 native since that's part of the new spec.
Some camcorders may have a night-shot feature which will let you shoot in really dark places while sacrificing picture quality. My Sony Z1 has something called "hypergain" which does this at the expense of adding a lot of "noise" (looks sort of like "snow" on an old TV). But that's a $4,000+ camera and probably much more than you need.
Just about all video and still cameras are sensitive to infra-red however, and you can buy IR lights (although they're expensive):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...arch=yes&O=productlist.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t
Just for fun, to see if your digital camera or camcorder can see infra red light, try this quick test. Turn on your camera, then take your TV remote control, point it at the camera and push some buttons. You will probably see a blue light flashing from the remote if you look on the camera screen, but you won't see anything with your naked eye.
