Resident List Update & BeeFlix – The Front Garden Channel

 Ghillie Suit Gardening – Resident List Update

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BeeFlix – The Front Garden ChannelWhile WildlifeFlix runs wild out the back, I also have BeeFlix out the front — a magnificent, dense privacy hedge made of a huge hardy fuschia bush mingled with holly. It gives me beautiful natural privacy without any need for curtains. In summer it absolutely hums with bees and small birds, and the birds feast on the red berries on the bush behind it. The holly adds extra security and winter berries. There’s even a little viewing gap so I can see if anyone’s coming up the drive.It’s the perfect living wall — beautiful, practical, and full of life. No intruder is getting through that lot without a pair of hedge trimmers and a lot of determination!

Its dramatic history:
My neighbours once chopped the entire thing down (claiming it was causing damp in their house — it wasn’t) and her husband even put stump killer on everything. I was absolutely furious when they admitted what they'd done. But nature had other ideas… it grew back bigger and stronger than ever.BeeFlix is now officially a resilient comeback queen. It survived neighbourly sabotage and returned more glorious than before. No one is touching it again. If they have a problem with it, they can move house.

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Full Current Resident List (WildLife Cafe)Mammals & Predators

• Felicity the Fox – Smug Sack of Potatoes, Chicken Leg Thief Extraordinaire
• Fat Ball – Cheeky cat invader
• Barry the Badger – Night-time snuffling legend & patio raider
• The Prickly Patrol (Hedgehogs – hopefully snuffling around somewhere!)

The Aviary Crew

• The Walters (17 pigeons, including DW – our brave disabled hero)
• The Magpie Air Force (30+)
• Sheryl & Russell Crow – Chaotic divorced couple
• Steven the Seagull – Absolute unit
• The Blackbirds – Balthazar, Sebastian, Beatrice & Matilda
• The Dunnocks – Quiet, polite ground-peckers
• The Littlies – The massive dawn chorus squad (Robins, Blue Tits, House Sparrows, Goldfinches, Wrens, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, etc.)
• Calamity the Cowbird – Mysterious American tourist
• Clarice Starling – The mysterious female starling. Part of the rowdy gang, but clearly the intelligent one who’s taking mental notes on everyone.
• Farron – Felicity’s bold, suet-holder-stealing cub. First confirmed cub sighting. Currently under investigation for lawn vandalism and late-night patio exploring.

  

  
  
• ...and Perseus the Peacock (Visiting Royalty / Occasional Drama Queen)

The Criminal Element

• The Six Cyrils – Professional vandals & lid unscrewers

Special Locations

• BeeFlix – The front garden privacy hedge (fuchsia + holly) – buzzing bee & bird resort with built-in security

Felicity in Full Food Coma

 

Single Mother, Chicken Leg Connoisseur, Professional Smug Sack of Potatoes

Ghillie Suit Gardening – Live Dispatch: Felicity in Full Food Coma 😍OH MY HEART. Look at her. Just look at her. Completely zoned out, flat on her side in the grass like a very satisfied, very spoilt ginger sausage. Ears relaxed, eyes shut, not a care in the world. After the smash & grab chicken leg, the full deluxe breakfast, and the strategic nap positioning… she has officially powered down for a proper post-meal snooze.This is peak single-mum behaviour. She’s had her massive feed, and is now sleeping it off like she’s on a luxury spa day. The garden is quiet, the Littlies are buzzing around safely, and Felicity is living her best life in full food coma mode.For breakfast she had:1 pouch meaty dog food mixed with taurine and salmon oil drizzleA few peanuts, suet pellets and fox kibbles for topping1 bacon sizzler1 gravy bone and1 raw chicken leg (this is what did it for her!)She looks so peaceful and content — worlds away from the tactical, chicken-stealing, hedge-jumping predator we usually see. Just a very full, very tired fox having a well-earned nap in the sunshine.My philosophy is if I give her a good breakfast, then one of my wildlife lives to see another day.
Current Felicity Status:

• Position: Horizontal deluxe
• Belly: Extremely full
• Mood: Blissed out
• Threat level to Cyrils: Currently zero (but she’ll be back on squirrel patrol once she wakes up)

She may be a demanding diva, but right now she’s just a very happy, very sleepy girl who trusts my garden enough to properly switch off.

Live Dispatch: Walter

I took down the funny photos of Walter from the blog earlier.  

What we all thought was just his usual chaotic comedy routine — the dangling leg, the dramatic poses, the black-hole landings — turned out to be something else entirely. He’s disabled. His leg is permanently stuck out at an odd angle and his wing hangs awkwardly too. He can still fly (thank goodness), but he hobbles when he walks.Today I watched him trying to get food on the ground while the other pigeons pushed him out of the way. It was quietly heartbreaking. I’ve switched to ground feeding only for the next while so he doesn’t have to struggle up onto the elevated trays. Shallow dishes of water and easy-access seed and suet pellets are out for him.I’ve been thinking about all those long, motionless sessions he used to have in the birdbath. Maybe pigeons instinctively know that cool water helps with swelling and pain. It makes those earlier photos feel very different now — what looked like slapstick was probably Walter quietly trying to look after himself the only way he knew how.He’s clearly decided this garden is his safe place. Even with his difficulties, he keeps coming back. There’s something very touching about that — this slightly broken pigeon choosing to trust the chaotic WildLife Cafe as a safe spot.We don’t know exactly what happened to him (old injury, illness, window strike — who knows), but he’s still out there doing his best. That counts for a lot.I’ll keep putting food down for him and watching out. That’s all any of us can do.

Disabled Walter (DW) UpdateI still haven’t seen the disabled Walter today.I’ve been keeping a quiet eye out all day — checking the lawn, the ground feeding spots, the birdbaths, and the trays — but there’s been no sign of him. It’s the first full day where he hasn’t appeared at all since we realised he was struggling with his leg and wing.It’s hard not to worry. He’s been such a regular in the garden for so long, even with his hobble and awkward wing. He always found his way back, even if he had to work harder than the others. The fact that he’s not here today feels quietly heavy. I keep hoping he’s just tucked away somewhere safe, resting, or feeding in a quiet corner I haven’t spotted.My sister is having her own pigeon worries too — she found one that had flown into a window and had blood on its face. It hid under a neighbour’s van, so she put a note through their letterbox warning them. We seem to have been adopted by broken pigeons at the same time. Nature has a funny (and sometimes heartbreaking) sense of humour.For now, I’m still putting easy ground food out every morning and keeping a shallow dish of water nearby. If DW is around and able, he knows where to find it. That’s all I can really do.I hope he’s okay.
I hope he comes back tomorrow.