Not so long ago, the skies of Canberra were clouded with moths at around this time of year. The humble bogong moth would use the city as a stopover in its spring migration to the cool caves of the Australian alps.
They would cluster in their thousands on the walls and windows of Parliament House. Officials would order that doors be closed and lights dimmed so as not to draw the moths indoors.
To many, though, they became a likable feature of city life.
And then, like friends who had grown tired of us, they vanished - until now.
They have been spotted in the city in increasing numbers as the season changes.
The drought caused the population to drop just over five years ago, ANU ecologist Ben Keaney but the spring rains of the past few years have brought the numbers back up.
"We're starting to see more and more bogongs coming back through Canberra again," he said.
Dr Keaney is a big fan. "Bogong moths are magical creatures because they fly on winds every year and go to the same majestic places in the mountains, year in, year out, and gather in a beautiful way.
"Canberra's smack-bang in the middle of their migration paths, so annually they take spring winds down from areas west of the the Great Divide, down past through Canberra, down towards Kosciuszko, Namadgi, and the Victorian alps."
He is not predicting a plague, though.
In 2019, a Canberra Times headline said: "Bogong moths black out Parliament". The article talked in apocalyptic tones of an "invading army".
"While harmless to humans, the numbers pose a spring-cleaning nightmare for the city's institutions whose flood-lit edifices attract the migratory insect in droves."
Dr Keaney does not see the moths as aggressive invaders. Rather, he views them as gentle creatures which who help keep an ecology in balance.
The National Museum of Australia agrees: "The moths are an important food source for birds, bats, reptiles, marsupial rats and mountain pygmy possums. Aboriginal people collected bogong moths and roasted them on fires."
Five years ago, the 2000-year-old cooked remains of bogong moths were found in caves in the southern foothills of the Australian Alps. "These findings represent the first conclusive archaeological evidence of insect foods in Australia, and, as far as we know, of their remains on stone artefacts in the world," the researchers who found them said.
Dr Keaney said that if you find a moth in your home, you should catch it and free it outdoors. "Just catch them with maybe a little cup. Take them out so that they can fly off and go to the mountains and then be happy."
You should also, he said, log them with the Zoos Victoria Moth Tracker.
"It's got an app. You put in your location, and the date that you see the moth, and then we can use that information to help manage the moth."
Even with the return of the creatures, Dr Keaney said they remain endangered. The numbers have not risen enough to guarantee their survival.
Their survival also affects that of the critically endangered Mountain Pygmy possum.
"Possums wake up from hibernating under the snow, hungry for the nutritious bogong moths to eat," Zoos Victoria's Moth Tracker site said.
"Bogong Moths used to fly to the possums' mountain home in the billions, but their numbers have significantly decreased over recent years. This now means these marvellous moths are in peril, and there may not be enough food for these tiny possums to raise their young."