a meeting of Auckland members of the Ornithological Society in March 1974. Here a committee was set up to bring the idea to practice. Later in the year the idea developed into establishing a "wildlife trust". 1975: registration of the trust In 1975 the Miranda Naturalists' Trust was registered as a charitable trust and the first president of the trust was John Brown. The Trust's constitution lists as its main objects: To establish and maintain an observatory for the study of natural history, especially birds, in the Firth of Thames and adjacent areas. To collect information on the ecology of the Miranda Coast with a view to its conservation. To encourage and promote education for the greater knowledge and enjoyment of the natural life heritage of New Zealand. The first donations were acquired, and a fund-raising campaign was started. An "Inaugural Appeal" letter was circulated, stating that "an Observatory should be set up at Miranda to maintain and amplify the study of birds in the Firth". This letter also spoke of the hope that "the lodge could be an established fact by mid-winter 1975". Elaine Power painted a New Zealand dotterel (Charadrius obscurus) for the Trust, which was sold in print in a limited edition, signed by the artist, and Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, made a fundraising speech, when he visited Auckland. In 1976 Dick Sibson was elected chairman of the Trust. Important donations were received from Mobil Oil NZ, the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, the J.R. McKenzie Trust and the Recreation and Sport Fund. In that same year "the first of the problems arose". An application for permission to build an observatory and lodge on the site of the old lime-works was turned down. Finally, the problems would not be solved until the end of the 1980s. In 1986 the Trust, still looking for a place to erect a building, changed focus to the west side of the Miranda to Kaiaua Road. Then the process got into a higher speed, and within a couple of years the building actually starts. 1990: opening of the centre Mid January 1990 the builders arrive and on 29 September 1990 the Miranda Naturalists' Trust Centre on the road from Miranda to Kaiaua was officially opened with a dedication ceremony with the tāngata whenua of Pukorokoro, Taramaire and Kaiaua. About 110 members and visitors assembled outside the gates of the centre