''UK500: Birding in the Fast Lane'' is an insight into the world of twitching, an anecdotal, humourous and highly personal account of some of the author's most memorable - and amusing - missions to add new birds to his ever-increasing British life-list. Complemented by his own photographs, paintings and illustrations, he recounts car crashes, stormy sea crossings, plane convoys and even a coastguard rescue, all encountered during his quest to see 500+ bird species in Britain and Ireland, a quest which has spanned 17 years. If you never thought the simple pleasure of bird watching - now one of the fastest-growing recreational activities in the world - could be described as 'extreme', you should read this book.This is a companion volume to Adrian Riley's best selling book ''Arrivals and Rivals: A Birding Oddity,'' reprinted in October 2007 with minor corrections. James Hanlon was born in South London in 1974 and grew up in East Ham, where very early on he developed a keen interest in wildlife, regularly going out bird watching by the age of 10.By his mid-teens the author had established himself as a keen 'twitcher', contributing illustrations and photographs to a number of rare bird publications.After graduating in Zoology at Bangor University, he went backpacking to New Zealand, Australia and Bali. On returning to the UK, Hanlon resumed his birding activities and soon decided to try to record 500 bird species by his 30th birthday at the end of 2004.