‘For nearly three decades I have lived beside an estuary. Gleaming shell banks beneath vaulting sky, the clockwork pulse of tides and seasons, and vast muddy flats stocked with birds – these represent home. It is an attachment I cherish, a sense of place and fascination, continually renewed. But it was not always so. Like many New Zealanders, I was once quite unaware of the value of such places.’

So begins In Pursuit of Champions, the captivating story of Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre.
For nearly 50 years, the Pūkorokoro Miranda Naturalists’ Trust has worked to inspire interest in our coastal wetlands and the biodiversity they support. Each year its Shorebird Centre at Pūkorokoro, on the Firth of Thames, attracts thousands of visitors.
Author Keith Woodley, as centre manager, has been involved in all aspects of the Trust and its work. In his absorbing and often moving book – part history, part memoir – he charts the life and times of this tiny but mighty voluntary organisation. It’s the story of how, driven by the importance of coastal conservation and that of its birdlife, a group of passionate and dedicated people built something from nothing, creating a globally recognised hub for shorebird protection and advocacy – all from an obscure rural corner of a little country at the bottom of the world.

‘Keith Woodley serve as a kind of Gandalf of the estuarine wonderland of the Miranda shorebird colony, an all-knowing birding wizard who is alert to its magic in this fresh and always fascinating history.’ – STEVE BRAUNIAS

Below you will find images from the book that were unable to be included in the print edition.

CHAPTER 1

Shirley Nieuwland, John Brown and Folkert Nieuwland.

CHAPTER 2

Ross Mckenzie at the wheel
Photo: PMNT

CHAPTER 4

Limeworks site late 1970s. The building was part of Allan Lane’s farm operation. Machinery and boiler of the Limeworks factory far left and far right.
Photo: PHILIP HEATH

CHAPTER 5

Limeworks hide building bee, 1979. David Lawrie and Gwenda Pulham on roof at right.
Photo: PMNT
Event at the Limeworks, 1977.
Photo: PMNT
Boiler of the Limeworks factory on right. Old army ‘rat huts’ in the background.
Photo: PHILIP HEATH
Dick Veitch cannon netting demonstration. OPEN DAY, 1981.
Photo: PMNT

CHAPTER 6

David Lawrie and Tony Habraken banding Black-billed gulls. February 2003.
Photo: NANETTE MCLAUCHLAN

CHAPTER 7

David Baker – engineer by profession, draughtsman and birder by inclination, supervised construction of the Centre.
Photo: STELLA ROWE
From Left to Right: Allan Lane, Sir Peter Elworthy (Chair of QEII National Trust) and Jocelyn Lane beside the Robert Findlay Reserve.
Photo: STUART CHAMBERS
Widgery Lake emerges. 1990

CHAPTER 10

Honorary manager and then Trust Chair John Gale.
Clean sweep fore and aft for floor refurbishment.
Photo: KEITH WOODLEY

CHAPTER 11

Shorebird Centre as film set
Photo: KEITH WOODLEY
Recorder Society

CHAPTER 13

The author working on a bird case diorama in the Shorebird Centre. 1996

CHAPTER 14

Supervised by Audrie McKenzie, the author speaks live to students in schools from Far North to Southland. 2006
Photo: PETE SOMERVILLE

CHAPTER 16

Clearing pest weed from Widgery Lake. Left to Right – Janie Vaughan, Gillian Vaughan, Pam Agnew, Des Agnew.

CHAPTER 19

South from Access Bay. 1990s

CHAPTER 24

Stephen Davies with a Wrybill. 1986
Photo: PMNT
Beth Brown, Tony Habraken and Dick Veitch. Cannon netting demonstration. 1980
Photo: PMNT

CHAPTER 26

Estella Lee in the field at Yalu Jiang

CHAPTER 29

Author, Louisa Cleave, Mark Crysell, Adrian Riegen, David Melville and Martin Anderson. Pyongyang, 2018.
Photo: PMNT

CHAPTER 31

Shorebird Centre furniture needs to be moved to set up for a talk