Bird spotters in Busselton got an exciting surprise when they caught sight of a particular wagtail species, a long way from it's home in Darwin.
Local bird enthusiast Dick Shore spotted the eastern yellow wagtail by the Vasse-Wonnerup Estuary, for possibly the first time the bird has ever been seen in Busselton.
While they are regularly seen in the summer months in Broome and Darwin, local bird photographer Ray Walker said the species was widespread in the northern hemisphere.
"I've been up to Broome 12 times. I've been out looking for the bird on two occasions and I've never seen it. Bugger me dead, here it is at home," he said.
"It's quite an event. We haven't seen it in a couple of weeks, so he might have caught a non-stop flight to London on the way home."
Mr Walker said the wagtail might have been blown down to Busselton during a storm.
"I can't think of why he would have come down here other than that."
Mr Walker said the bird was a male, because he was brightly coloured for breeding, while females are a duller, yellow-grey.
While no females have been spotted in the area, Mr Walker said he and the other bird watchers would be keeping an eye out.
"It was a real fluke that Dick spotted it in the first place.
According to eBird Australia, Eastern Yellow Wagtails are ground-dwelling birds with long-tails, bright yellow below and paler throats.
They often pump their tails up and down while walking on the ground and are usually seen near water.
Cape to Cape Birdlife representative Christine Wilder said a second wagtail was spotted, meaning two of them were seen over April and March.
"Sometimes birds turn up for all different reasons. Sometimes you have cyclones and birds are blown off course," she said.
