Jeremy Leach

The Thrush

A thrush only lives to an age of 3 or 4

And in those years it cares not for mankind\'s political fuss or wars

 

Emerging from a glossy blue, speckled egg in a clutch of 4 to 6

Survival mode starts, in the swaying, high cupped-nest, made from twigs and woven sticks

 

Soon to leave home,  the brood and the tiny egg that weighed only 6 grams

Thrown into the deep end of predator-prey, intensely alert, finding food wherever it can

 

With the adult bird having a wingspan of between 12 and 19 inches

It rapidly fledges and grows, immersed in the secret,  shaded leafy glades of natures riches

 

Staying out of man’s reach, a worldwide family of 193 species and 17 genera

Evolved in perfect plumage, flight, song and a touching, bold demeanour

 

They say there may be as many as 26 million pairs of song thrushes across Europe

Whacking snails on their anvils and tugging worms as they flit about and hop, hop

 

With a momentary decline from habitat loss from farming in the 1970s and 80s

They still fill the hush of evenings with their most beautiful, repetitive, songbook of phrases

 

Spring comes and brings the nest, eggs and incubation of 14 days, with 14 more before flight

The cycle perpetuated by a new precious brood, meticulously tended for all hours of the day and night

 

With the national average date for the first egg to be laid on the 21st day of April

A thrush cares not for mankind\'s wars, hatreds and deep-rooted evil