Birds of a Feather

We have been trying to walk around as much of Lake Pupuke as possible. It is really hard since there are houses that have lake-front property and so you cannot walk all the way around but we have been walking on all the public land.  It is fun to see it the lake from a different perspective.  We had a lovely walk last week and topped it off with a trip to our newly found favorite bagel shop. (Incidentally we found it four weeks ago and it is less than a three minute walk from our flat.)  Anyway, we had a nice walk and saw some fun things....birds being among those things we saw.

First we saw some swans, black ones with red bills. Some were very large and from the mess of the feathers it was obvious that they were old birds.  But we did find some other birds. One I know but the other I cannot identify.  For the one I know.  It is an pukeko.

They are found all over New Zealand but like it best around water. They are often considered a pest because they will pick at the grass or at new plants and eat them.  I think they are fun to watch. They kind of have a funny walk.

The other bird that we saw that day is still unknown to me.  We came upon it as it landed by the lake. 

As we walked up to it we could see the water on its feathers.  Then, slowly he began to open them.  

He sat on the same spot and kind of turned to the right and to the left for about three minutes.  A small boy and his mother walked up behind them and the bird flew across the water and landed again, opening his wings. He sat there for more than ten minutes, warming and drying himself.

It was a nice pleasant day.  I am not sure how I will find out what kind of bird this is but I will keep looking.