Would you mind if I filmed you taking photographs in the field?’ Johan Vermeulen asked me almost two years ago. He was filming a documentary about the history and folklore around birds in South Africa and wanted to include footage of people who work with them. As a photographer, I thought it would be pretty boring filming me in the field and suggested that we rather drive to Roselands Nature Reserve and use the opportunity to tell a short story about the Blue Swallows there. With only 25 pairs left in South Africa, I thought that would be far more captivating. Johan agreed and he and his wife Lardine arrived the night before at my home in Balgowan, in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands …