to the area of Bohai Bay, China. The mudflats in this bay are a very important part of the "Flyway" of red knots and are rapidly destroyed to develop new land for the Caofeidian New Area Project. Newsletter Four times a year the trust publishes a newsletter to keep members in touch, and to bring news of events at the Miranda Shorebird Centre and along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The first newsletters were mostly bird reports, annual reports and interim reports. In 1980 for the first time a real "Newsletter" was produced. It was only a single page and the bird reports were still published as well. September 1981 brought another newsletter, this time of four pages, and by June 1982 the newsletter had eleven pages, and had incorporated the annual and interim reports. The next newsletter in May 1983 looked much more professional, with text in two columns and photos, and stated that it was now "registered as a newspaper". From then on, newsletters and records (both in two column-print and with photos), alternately appeared, a newsletter in summer and the records in spring. From October 1984 the name of the editor, Stuart Chambers, was given. He actually became editor in 1983 and would remain until August 1996. The last "Records" showed up in November 1988. From then on the newsletter appeared bi-annually until 1990, when four newsletters were published. The newsletter of November 1990, published as "Newsletter 1", gives an account of the "Opening Ceremony" of the Shorebird Centre. From then on, 3 or 4 newsletters were published every year. No. 21, of May 1996 was the first newsletter with a cover in full colour. It had 44 pages and was called the "21st Birthday Issue". It was then called "Miranda Naturalists' Trust News" for the first time, the title it still holds. Birds Worldwide 214 species of shorebirds are recognised. Of these, 41 have been recorded at Miranda. Birds that can be regularly seen at Miranda are: Wrybill (Anarhynchus frontalis): Wrybills are endemic to NZ. They breed on the South Island on the mid-Canterbury braided riverbeds. After breeding most birds fly to the North Island. In winter 2000 or 40% of the population of these plovers stay at Miranda. Banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus): Banded dotterels only breed in New Zealand. Strongholds of the species are on the South Island. Part of the population migrates to Australia, and