When I was arriving in one of the towns of New Zealand, where I was planning to stay overnight, I caught sight of a bird feeding at the edge of the road. It resembles the corn cake, a bird that is commonly found in Poland. It only differs from the corn crake in its brown plumage. I stopped the car immediately, took the camera and, approaching slowly, I took several photos. There was not enough light, but weka remained calm and the photos I managed to take were really satisfactory. I had so much joy at the end of the day. It is a brand new species in my gallery. What is more, it is endemic in New Zealand. It is a representative species of the crane family. It is a flightless bird. I did not expect to come across it ever again, but I was taken by surprise next day. When I left the city at dawn, I drove towards the seaside. However, I stopped at the edge of the cliff and discovered that the shore is some several dozen meters below. I had hoped to meet oystercatchers, terns and gulls. I was no expert at parachuting from high cliffs. Although landscape was stunning, my desire to photograph was not quenched. I didn’t have the faintest idea what to do. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of several wekas near my car. The largest of them turned to be a mother leading a group of her young. One of them was limping, another didn’t have one eye. The rest of them were following their mom eagerly. I was frozen and waited to see what to do next. The birds were so near it was not possible to take photos using my 600 camera. I took a few photos with my mobile phone, but their quality is insufficient and I cannot include them in the collection. Weka approached so near that there was a distance of just one metre between them and me. When they were going away, I managed to take some quality photos.. I also met these birds later when I was coming back to the hotel. This is how the collection presented on this website was created. The wekas appeared in the warning signs, as they often happen to be run over by cars, while they are feeding beside the road. The bird can weigh up to 1,5 kilogram. It is omnivorous. It feeds on meet (insects, mice, small birds). Because it is flightless, it easily falls prey to such carnivorous creatures as ermines, cats and dogs. Luckily, it is extremely fertile and is able to produce as many as four clutches a year. The only sound of weka I heard was the one produced by the young one limping after his mother and siblings. I did not record it, though.
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