The Thrush

The ten most seen birds in gardens are the house sparrow, the starling, the blackbird, the blue tit, the chaffinch, the woodpigeon, the collared dove, the great tit, the robin and the long-tailed tit.
I had never seen a long-tailed tit until about a week ago when a couple of them appeared, not in the back garden where we have a bird table, but in the front garden (our neighbour throws food for birds into her front garden). Now, according to a report in The Times, there are many of them these days. I wonder why some birds seem to disappear for long periods then re-appear in great numbers.
And where, in that list, was the thrush?
In our garden about ten years ago there were many thrushes, now there are none. Plenty of blackbirds and thousands of sparrows, a few robins, a wren.... but no thrushes.
We had a red currant bush in the garden and one particular year it was heavy with fruit; but we left it too late to pick because when we took containers there to pick the fruit, it had all gone: the thrushes had swooped down on the bush and had eaten the lot.
Now, no thrushes.
A wonderful bird, speckled breast, a beautiful singer.
Brings to mind Robert Browning:

"Hark! where my blossomed pear tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
That first fine careless rapture."

Hah! but in the trees there are a family of magpies and I bet they love thrush's eggs.