Bathing Weka

I had to do a dash to Reefton today as a favour for a friend. On the way I spotted this weka having a bath. She was sitting in this small puddle of water frantically flapping her stumpy wings to flick the water up over herself.

I've never seen one taking a bath before so of course I had to stop and take her photo. By the time I pulled over and reversed back I suspected she'd be gone but she was still there - unfortunately she'd stood up and was preening so I didn't get the splashing water spectacle but at least you can see some droplets on her.

For non New Zealanders, the weka is a flightless bird about the size of a large chicken. They are of the rail family and because of their size and colouring are often mistaken by tourists for kiwi. They have longer legs, shorter beaks and shorter feathers than kiwis do, and their legs and beaks are orange rather than brown - and you'll see wekas about throughout the day whereas kiwi are nocturnal.

They are not particularly nervous of people and will hang about camp sites and country roadsides and steal anything that is not nailed down. Someone who likes to take things and hoard them is thus sometimes called "a bit of a weka".

I see I had my camera on totally the wrong settings and I didn't stop to check them in my rush to get the photo, so it's absolute fluke that she stood still long enough for this to be clear.