The Wanderers Return
Home again
Near my house is a small park. There, each year, in a bottle brush tree, a pair of honeyeaters nest. They’re seasonal visitors, like so many in this part of the world. They arrive in autumn to avoid the rigors of the southern winter and return south in spring to avoid our sub-tropical summer heat.
The park gardeners were rather over-enthusiastic and habitually pruned the tree severely, almost back to sticks, exposing our feathered visitors to the elements and predators. I was not the only one who noticed. One day the following notice appeared on a nearby fence.
The workmen took this to heart, pruning very lightly to let the tree grow large and bushy.
Towards the end of winter, another notice appeared on the fence.
Now winter is here again, and the tree is a home once more.
