‘Are you lost, mate?’ Mystery as SA farmer encounters pelican 40km from ocean

Corbin Schuster knows the meaning of most “rural weather omens”, but the South Australian grain grower was left scratching his head after encountering a “helplessly lost” pelican on his landlocked farm. Mr Schuster found the large water bird taking a dip in a dam on his property at Freeling, about 70km north of Adelaide and 80km from the nearest river, on Wednesday. The Highlands Farm owner shared a photo of the perplexing discovery on social media, which attracted thousands of views in less than 24 hours. “I’m familiar with most rural weather omens,” Mr Schuster wrote. “Ants building nests = rain coming. Lizard sitting on a post = rain coming … Pelican in the dam at the hayshed — what the heck does that mean?” It remains a mystery how the pelican — which Mr Schuster said was “quite a friendly chap — made its way to the farm. But he reckons he’s solved the meaning behind the unusual portent. “I think this means something significant, it means this pelican is lost,” Mr Schuster wrote.