锦绣华南 11

Job done,

the villagers can relax,

at least until tomorrow.

But for the nesting swallows, the work of raising a family has only just begun.

In the newly planted fields,

little egrets hunt for food.

The rice paddies harbour tadpoles,

fish and insects and the egrets have chicks to feed.

This colony in Chongqing Province was established in 1996,

when a few dozen birds built nests in the bamboo grove behind Yang Guang village.

Believing they were a sign of luck,

local people initially protected the egrets and the colony grew.

But their attitude changed when the head of the village fell ill.

They blamed the birds and were all set to destroy their nests,

when the local government stepped in to protect them.