Product Description

This is a lively, entertaining and informative account of the author's quest over 17 years, and before his 30th birthday, to record 500+ species of the birds found in Britain and Ireland. Complemented by his own photographs and splendid paintings and drawings, he recounts car crashes, stormy sea crossings, plane convoys and even a coastguard rescue during his travels in pursuit of avian rarities. If you thought the simple pleasure of birdwatching - now one of the fastest-growing recreational activities in the world - couldn't be described as 'extreme', you should read this book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126426 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From the Author
I would like to respond to the invaluable feedback readers
have offered through reviews both in the general birding press and on the
Amazon website. Though the book appears to have been well-received there
has been more than one referral to its length, with suggestions it could
have been longer!
When compared to titles such as the Big Year by Mark Obmascik and Arrivals
and Rivals by Adrian Riley yes it is a little on the short side but my
intention when writing this book was to bring together both prose and
artwork - it is as much a gallery for my brush-strokes as it is for my pen.
It is designed to be short so as to hold interest to the end without
compromising quality for the sake of quantity, or scaring off those with
only a passing interest in birds, who have little interest in twitching
themselves. The book is priced a shade higher than those titles already
mentioned as it contains many colour plates, a feature which always boosts
production costs, and inevitably, publication price. My end result is a
work which - I sincerely hope - reaches out to the non-birding community as
much as it does the twitchers and indeed other birders.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have written
reviews and offered their opinions - I am delighted that most feedback has
been overwhelmingly positive.

From the Back Cover
This is a lively, entertaining and informative account of the
author's quest over 17 years, and before his 30th birthday, to record 500+
species of the birds found in Britain and Ireland. Complemented by is own
photographs and splended paintings and drawings, he recounts car crashes,
stormy sea crossings, plane convoys and even a coastguard rescue during his
travels in pursuit of avian rarities. If you thought the simple pleasure of
bird watching - now one of the fastest-growing recreational activities in
the world - couldn't ever be described as 'extreme' - you should read this
book.

About the Author
James Hanlon was born in South London in December 1974, and settled in the East End in the late seventies. He grew up in East Ham, where he developed a keen interest in wildlife and was out birdwatching regularly by the age of 10. By his mid-teens he had established himself as a keen twitcher, contributing illustrations and occasionally photographs to a number of rare bird publications. He graduated from Bangor University in July 1996 with an upper second class honours degree in Zoology with Marine Zoology and a basic understanding of the Welsh language (or at least the words which accompany Welsh road signs). In 1999 James decided he would try to get his 500th bird by his 30th birthday at the end of 2004.

Customer Reviews

Twitching Frenzy
Hanlon's book is a entertaining and humourous account of his efforts to record 500 plus birds in Britain and Ireland before hitting 30. It is a book for the avid Birdwatcher who will recognise some of their own adventures in their bid to see a rarity. Non Birdwatchers will enjoy the humour and the postcardlike descriptions of places visited. There are excellent drawings and notes from the authors notebooks included. I read it in one sitting enjoying each adventure and as that wound down , I looked forward to the next.

Madness, obsession or a passion? You decide!
This is a book that I finished too quickly and then wished there was more. Every spare minute I had I picked up this book and read about James' adventures in his quest to see 500 species of bird before his thirtieth birthday. He has certainly been able to convey the thrill of the chase, sometimes with the elevation of success in seeing the bird, on other occasions the agony of missing the quarry. Some of his stories border on total madness, traveling alone to far flung corners, sleeping rough and spending hard earned cash to see a four inch ball of feathers that has lost its way!
The book is an easy read, is entertaining and well written and James' love of birds shines through. My wife picked it up after me (and she has no interest in birds) and found it amusing; although she did decide that James' antics were madness and not a passion!

Achieving a goal
You don't have to be a birder to appriciate James's endeavours to record 500+ bird species found in Britain and Ireland. Its as much about travel and being on the road as twitching. In a world made duller by passive conformity James's rebuttal of birdwatching cliches and his pursuit of a goal are a joy to read.