I remember, as a kid, my father pointing out a distant bird on a lake and claiming it was “a Dabchick!” though I do not remember actually seeing and taking in this distinctive shape.

The Weweia (New Zealand Dabchick, Poliocephalus rufopectus) would elude me until many, many years later. It was a 2010 trip to Rotorua, when prowling around the edges of Lake Rotoiti I spied this magnificent bird.

They do not like humans, so it took several stalking attempts in dense cover. Even so, this photo is at the limits of what I was able to capture at the time.