9.30 and dusk is falling. I set up my blanket and supplies (Kindle in case it takes a while for them to show, jumper in case it gets cold and camera, in case I manage to get a picture. Spoiler alert – I didn’t manage to get a picture).

I arrange myself on the blanket, suddenly regretting my lack of foresight in not changing out of my sundress. I’m pretty sure there are going to be small biting flying things tonight. I rearrange my blanket, covering as much of my bare legs as I can, and then settle down to wait.

I don’t even have time to open my Kindle before the first rustles can be heard. They are coming from underneath my strawberry planter. And then I get my first glimpse. A small, rounded shape scurries across the patio to the bird feeder, moving fast and in short bursts. He disappears beneath the bush that sits underneath the feeder and almost immediately I hear satisfied chomping, swallowing and what I can only assume are tiny squeaks (or moans) of satisfaction. It turns out Hedgehogs are really noisy eaters!

After a few minutes the tiny scamp has eaten his fill and heads onto the grass to investigate new tasty treats. He rushes straight up to the edge of my blanket and investigates, his little nose sniffling and black eyes shining in the light from the kitchen window. Deciding that the blanket is uninteresting, being inedible, he soon heads off in search of slugs and snails and other culinary delights.

Another rustle and a larger shape ambles into view. I choose to believe this is the mother. She follows the same path, stopping for more loud chomping under the bird feeder. Baby finds the plate of mealworms I’ve put out and starts tucking in.

Suddenly another Hedgehog saunters in from behind my Cyprus tree. He bullies over to the plate of mealworms, turfs the baby off and settles down to finish off the plate, snorting them up as fast as he can. Once he’s finished he turns to the bowl of water I’ve left out. After a sniff he realises its not food and promptly tips it over before sauntering off to drink from the extra plant water puddled in the nearby manhole cover. This one must be the teenager of the group.

I sit as still as I can and watch as they womble around on their nightly business, masticating everything they find loudly and with much pleasure. They seem totally engrossed and don’t care that I’m there at all.

They show no signs of leaving, so I eventually creep back inside, leaving them to it.

I’m definitely doing that again tomorrow night.