Do you love, or do you hate pukeko?

Patience paid off for Waikanae's Roger Smith recently, with a beautiful picture of a pukeko chick. A keen amateur photographer he was aware of the large flock of pukeko, including some nesting near the Waimanu Lagoons.
"The pukekos next near to the beach in agapanthus and I saw a chick about two days old venturing out for the first time."
Crawling along the ground on his stomach he got to within about three metres of the birds and observed them for about an hour.
The family group were all feeding the chick and he snapped about 160 pictures. The picture of two adults feeding the chick was a big hit on Facebook.
"It seems to be touching a chord with many people...mainly for the cuteness." Although he was very "close to the action" he was not spotted by the birds as he was hidden by bushes.
He refers to pukeko as "marmite birds" that people either "love or hate" and he finds them very interesting.

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