Thrush - a modern love story

It all started on Friday morning. That was when the sudden death occurred.

My house has large all-glass patio doors looking out across the back lawn. It’s a relatively quiet country garden with lots of trees and shrubs for birds to nest and hide. There has been a lovely pair of thrushes living amongst these trees and they have been hopping across my lawn in search of worms! I see them every morning.

Until Friday morning.

When I came down and looked out the first thing that I saw was the dead bird. It was one of the pair of thrushes. It had evidently flown into the glass door and broken its neck. The death was instant. Poignantly, it had a few little twigs in its mouth and had obviously been out on a mission to get material for building a nest with its partner. I gently lifted it up and disposed of the body. It was the male thrush of the couple. I was saddened by this - I hate seeing this happen - but as the day went on the scene started to fade from my mind.

Until twilight. I was walking past the patio doors and spotted the female thrush of the pair, just standing there and looking DIRECTLY at the spot when the male thrush had died. I stared at it - it just stood there. I have never seen a bird behave like that before. I opened the door, it still didn’t move - it just stood there, motionless. There was hardly a sound in the fading evening light. I felt an incredible sadness. I could just feel the unbearable loss and it all but broke my heart.

I walked away and when I came back later, the bird had gone. I am not sure if it will be back. What happens in these moments to the surviving bird? Does it try and find another partner with which to build a nest? Does it realise its partner has gone, forever? Is this just me imposing human thoughts on the scene?

I won’t forget the sight of that solitary bird just standing there in the evening silence. Everything in life has meaning.