My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 497 Cranes and Herons

A bird egg lay at Chen Baoshuan's feet, dirty and broken, its shell covered in mud.

From the outside, it's difficult to tell at a glance what kind of bird's egg it is.

Chen Ling poked at the broken bird eggs a couple of times; the egg white had long since run out.

It must have fallen from the tree during the heavy rain last night.

Looking up at the huge, round bird's nest spread out like a disc, Chen Ling thought of the large flock of egrets that had flown into the farm that morning, and nodded, saying, "This nest is an egret's nest, that's right."

However, these are not the egrets from our area.

These guys flew in from somewhere else, and they're about the same size as Qingzhuang.

They're a whole size bigger than the egrets we have here.

The egrets in the area are indeed quite small.

Moreover, they prefer to be alone and do not like to be in groups.

Even when flocks of geese and cranes fly back every autumn, they only briefly join in the fun.

Then he continued to live alone.

Except during the breeding and mating season, they always act alone.

Therefore, apart from looking for fish and shrimp in the stream behind the mountain, he rarely dared to go into the irrigation ditch of the orchard. He was chased away by the dogs a few times and was terrified.

"Not from around here? That means it flew here with the cranes from our village?"

Upon hearing Chen Ling's words, Chen Baoshuan quickly realized what was going on.

Looking up at the huge bird's nest, he thought, "Looks like this place is going to be a lucky spot from now on. Everything is coming here."

I don't know how this thing is different from the egrets we have here.

Does the meat taste good?

This is the most simple and honest way of judging people from the countryside.

First, consider whether the meat tastes good.

Let's talk about whether it looks good or not.

"Even the largest egret is still a water bird; its meat has a strong watery taste and isn't very palatable..."

Chen Ling chuckled, and at that moment Wang Qingwen followed, with a pack of dogs running in front of him.

He came over and asked what happened.

After learning the situation, he laughed and said, "Not necessarily. The meat of the cattle egret is not bad."

"Hey bro, what kind of teacher are you? You can't call the cattle egret a waterbird."

Chen Ling immediately joked.

Cattle egret.

You can tell just by the name.

A type of heron that perches on the back of a cow, smaller than a white egret, with yellowish feathers; locals like to call them cowherds.

These herons often follow behind cattle or stand on their backs.

They peck at insects on the grass that have been startled by the cows.

Or they might eat the parasites on a cow's back.

In other words, cattle egrets mainly eat insects.

Unlike other herons that eat fish and shrimp in the water, they prefer to stay near the water.

Cattle egrets don't really like staying near water.

Look for insects in drier places.

Therefore, it is not purely a waterbird.

Their meat naturally won't have much of a watery or fishy smell.

However, this kind of bird can remove parasites from cattle, so it's considered a good bird.

Unless it's a bad year, people generally don't harm it.

"I'm a math teacher, how could I possibly understand this?" Wang Qingwen laughed.

"Isn't the math teacher even more formidable? I'm terrified of the math teacher."

Chen Baoshuan looked apprehensive, and his words drew agreement from a group of children.

"No wonder I was a little afraid to speak when I met Uncle Qingwen. It turns out Uncle Qingwen is a math teacher."

"That's it."

"Uncle Fugui, this bird's nest is too big. Shall I go up and take a look? There can't just be one bird egg."

"Yes, if one falls down, there are definitely more up there."

A group of kids were shouting, but they had spotted the bird eggs under the egret's nest, and even the little girl was eager to try them out.

That's how kids in the village are.

Seeing bird nests, I can't resist trying to grab a handful.

Even if there are no bird eggs, we still have to go up and take a look.

Knowing there were bird eggs made them even more excited.

"You guys better not go up there. I think it's a bit dangerous since it's next to a cliff."

Chen Ling glanced around.

This place is located at the northwest corner between the back mountain and the west side of the mountain wall.

It is right next to a steep cliff.

It's not far from where the mountain donkey gave birth.

Chickens don't usually come to this place.

Even dogs don't like to come here.

So I didn't notice when a nest had appeared.

"Let's go for a walk around the big lake in Yeren Valley and see if all the birds are hiding there."

Chen Ling pointed in the direction of the mountain lake.

"Okay, let's listen to Uncle Fugui and go to Yeren Gully. Let's go."

Liu Nier waved and ran over first.

They originally came to the mountains with Chen Baoshuan to look for mushrooms and earthworms.

It doesn't matter where you look.

You can also follow Chen Ling to see some fun things.

But they hadn't gone far, and had just arrived near the maple forest on the ridge by the lake, when they saw that the forest, and even the rock caves in the cliffs, were full of bird nests of all sizes.

"My goodness, so many bird nests, they must all have been built by egrets, Uncle Fugui, you're going to make a fortune again."

"What's the point of making money? We can't sell this bird."

"Then let's eat bird eggs, let's eat bird eggs."

A group of children, laughing and craning their necks, ran back and forth, peering at the bird's nest in the tree.

There are many camphor trees on the north hill behind the farm, and further west, the trees become maple trees.

These trees are very tall.

These are all old trees that have stood for many years, making them a perfect nesting ground for these egrets.

Moreover, there was lush wild grass under the big tree.

It's all wet after the rain.

Every short distance, you'll find all sorts of mushrooms, big and small.

But now, neither adults nor children are in the mood to pick mushrooms; they're all looking for bird eggs under the trees.

"Ah, there are so many bird eggs here."

"I have some here too."

"I found three, one of which wasn't broken."

"Me too, I also found one that wasn't broken."

Thankfully, Rui Rui wasn't with us, otherwise, seeing this scene, we definitely wouldn't have been able to stop him.

Unfortunately, most of the bird eggs were broken.

So the children excitedly pulled each other up the tree.

I actually saw egrets incubating their eggs in their nests.

They were quiet when these little monkeys were climbing the tree, but as soon as they got up there, they spread their wings and fiercely pecked at them.

The little monkeys screamed in fright and scrambled to avoid him, nearly falling over. Chen Ling grabbed them by the feet, tucked them under his armpits, and put them down, but none of them showed any weakness.

"What a fierce bird! It's only bigger than the egrets around here, yet it dares to peck at us. I'm going to get my slingshot and shoot it when I get home..."

"Screw shooting. Behave yourselves. When autumn comes, your uncle will take you guys out to shoot."

Chen Ling smacked them on the head.

Chen Baoshuan chimed in, "Your Uncle Fugui is right. Don't come here on your own without an adult with you."

It's not that we don't allow them to raid bird nests, it's just that it's too dangerous here.

The little monkeys are so engrossed in playing that they don't know their own strength, and these bird nests will attract some poisonous insects during the incubation period.

If you are bitten by an unfortunate person and there is no timely medical treatment on the mountain, you will die.

So the two of them gave them a long and earnest warning.

Then he led them down the hillside to the lake.

Few people come here. Apart from Chen Ling's family, or rather, apart from Chen Ling himself, no one else comes unless there's a specific reason.

Therefore, it appears even more pristine than the mountains and forests.

However, it is not desolate.

The sun didn't come out after the rain today; the sky was overcast.

A gentle breeze rippled across the lake, and the bamboo grove opposite swayed softly, rustling and bringing a refreshing breeze.

Some reeds and calamus also grow around the lake, and there are even some lotus roots.

Many of them were given to us by Chen Ling last spring, and they are growing quite well, now blooming with delicate pink flowers.

If you listen carefully, you can hear creaking sounds coming from among the reeds.

Upon hearing this sound, the adults were immediately invigorated.

"Goodness, there are some by the lake too, and it looks like there are quite a few."

They all slowed down, trying to sneak up on each other.

but……

Before they had taken two steps, they saw a red head peeking out alertly from the reeds. Its black bean-like eyes stared in their direction for a moment, and then it let out a loud cry.

With a flap of its wings and a swift movement of its legs, it gracefully takes flight.

It hovered above the lake, emitting long calls as it went.

Then cranes flew up from the reeds.

There are red-crowned cranes, as well as cranes with gray or white feathers.

There were probably dozens or even hundreds of them. They circled around for a while, squawking, before flying into the eastern sky.

"Wow, this is a flock of cranes! They're really something, even having sentries on guard."

The group of adults and children were quite dumbfounded.

After the surprise.

The children became even more excited, exclaiming, "Wow, so that's where cranes live!"

It's as if some incredible secret has been discovered.

One by one, they rushed to the lakeside with the eagerly barking pack of dogs.

The lake in the mountains is very deep.

It is the original Yerengou (Wild Man Valley).

It's deeper than a reservoir.

They didn't rush forward rashly, but used bamboo poles to knock down the narrow reeds along the lake. Compared to the reeds in the reservoir and the old river bend, these reeds here appeared long and narrow, and compared to those, this was just a very small patch.

So when the dolls dug around, they discovered the secret.

Then his eyes lit up, and he waved vigorously at Chen Ling and the others, shouting, "Uncle Fugui, this place is full of crane nests, come quick!"

Chen Ling went over to take a look.

Nests are scattered at almost every certain distance among the reeds.

These nests are the same shape as bird nests, only many times larger, like big bowls.

It's not finished yet.

They are still some unfinished products.

It turns out that the flock of cranes was busy building their nests here.

"It's about to lay an egg."

Chen Ling glanced at it twice and then said with certainty.

Upon hearing his words, Wang Qingwen and Chen Baoshuan quickly gathered around to look.

Even Xizi, who wasn't usually talkative, brightened up: "Uncle, is the crane going to lay its eggs here?"

"Yes, the cranes are going to lay their eggs here."

Chen Ling smiled. Locals often say, "In the north, people eat eggs; in the south, they eat geese; and in the middle, they eat dry food." This refers to geese, but it also refers to various kinds of cranes.

Apart from egrets, magpies, and water camels, there has never been a large migratory bird colony in their area.

Every spring and autumn, we just pass through here for the show.

But now, these cranes are going to build their nests and lay their eggs here, which means they've made this place their second home.

This means that from now on, cranes will also live here.

This is truly a joyous occasion.

"Wow, this is wonderful! We'll have cranes here now!"

"I want to see cranes lay eggs, and after they lay the eggs, I want to raise the baby cranes."

"I want to raise one too."

"..."

The cranes that we only see on TV and in textbook pictures actually live near our homes, build nests, lay eggs, and hatch chicks.

The events in the story have happened right before my eyes.

For children, this feeling is incredibly blissful.

At this moment, Wang Qingwen suddenly remembered Zhao Gang, who had hurriedly left on his motorcycle with his dog that morning, and couldn't help but chuckle: "That Comrade Zhao Gang left in such a hurry, he missed another rare opportunity."

"Don't even mention him. I bet Uncle Zhao and the other two will regret not going up the mountain to pick mushrooms with Baoshuan today."

Chen Ling chimed in, saying that he had already imagined the expressions on the two old men's faces if they missed out on something so interesting.

……

When a person takes something to heart, their attention will frequently be focused on it.

Over the next two days, Chen Ling and his brother-in-law would often secretly search everywhere, from the mountains to the riverbanks and ditches.

After this exploration.

Sure enough, they found that the flock of cranes and egrets were constantly gathering dry branches and grass stalks to build their nests.

The same was true for the six red-crowned cranes.

He usually eats and drinks in the village in a grand manner, and is waited on hand and foot.

But when it's noon or dusk and no one's around, they sneak around near the threshing ground or under the big trees by the roadside, picking up dead branches and stalks.

Upon seeing people, it would pick up a dry twig from a distance, squawk, and fly away.

These thieving birds are usually very easygoing with people, but when it comes to laying eggs, they become cautious and careful.

Their furtive and secretive manner made them look rather comical.

In order not to disturb them, Chen Ling and Wang Qingwen did not bring the dogs when they went out. Instead, they would go to the vicinity of their nests to investigate the situation when the dogs went out to find food.

Then it was discovered.

Like the flocks of red-crowned cranes, many egrets and herons also nest in the reeds and grasses.

Moreover, the places they chose were incredibly diverse.

Some are around the lake in the mountains, some are on the mountain behind the farm, some are by the river at the foot of the mountain, and some are in the grass and trees behind the land god temple...

They're all located not far from the farm.

Moreover, the closer the positions are, the more cranes and herons there are, and they often fight each other to compete for space.

Chen Ling and his family, including Chen Ling himself, were initially puzzled.

They even thought they were there to make it easier to steal fish.

It turned out that wasn't the case.

It was to protect against eagles.

(End of this chapter)