Arrivals and rivals: a duel for the winning bird.

second edition).Octavo, paperback,180 pp.,colour photographs. An account of competitive twitching by two leading British birders, this book describes in an informed and lively manner the struggle in 2002 to become nationally recognised 'Birder of the Year', a competition involving much travelling and sometimes a little guile too. It contains accounts of the many bird species encountered, as well as descriptions of the habitats visited - some wild, some urban. It is also a story of the competition between the two main birders in the field, the author and his arch rival Lee Evans (author of Finding Birds in Britain). The competition they engaged in was indeed a close-run thing, with both men traversing the length and breadth of Britain looking for rare and exotic species to add to their lists.