The owner of Gentle Annie Seaside Accommodation and Camping Ground in Mokihinui Jesse Paley-Atkins said his dad was mowing the lawn when he saw the weka.
"It stood out because it was a bright, white bird. It instantly struck dad as being really unusual. So he pulled the mower up in time and watched the weka."
Paley-Atkins said while the bird looked entirely different to a weka, it was behaving like a weka does.
"It was behaving just like a weka does but looked entirely different."
Thanks to some quick thinking, Paley-Atkins' dad was able to capture some footage of the bird, which helped the local DOC office to identify it.
"He pulled out his cell phone and took some good video and photos. He then shared that with the local DOC office in Westport who has an expert, Scott Freeman, about wekas, he IDed it straight away.
"There was no doubt it was a weka."
Sightings of white weka were extremely rare, and Paley-Atkins said he heard of another one further north a few years ago.
"There was one up in Karamea on the bluff which is about 30 or 40kms north of the property that was spotted and was accidentally hit by a vehicle."
That unlucky white weka was taxidermied and now resides in the local museum.
