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Bond. James Bond. Birdwatcher.
The fictional James Bond got his name from a real birding adventurer
© Jerry Freilich
The real James Bond was born in Philadelphia in 1900 and worked as a banker after college. But his first love was the natural world. Eventually, he kissed the banking world goodbye and dedicated the rest of his life to exploring and documenting birds and nature.
BirdNote®
James Bond, Birdwatcher
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
When Ian Fleming began working on his first book, Casino Royale, in 1952, he needed the perfect name for his secret agent.
And he got his inspiration from an unlikely figure.
Fleming was an avid birdwatcher and he was living in Jamaica at the time. One day, he looked down at his trusty local bird book: Birds of the West Indies. The author was an ornithologist — by the name of James Bond.
The rest is history.
[Sean Connery saying, “Bond. James Bond.”]
The real James Bond led a very different life from his famous namesake. He was born in Philadelphia in 1900 and worked as a banker after college. But his first love was the natural world.
Eventually, Bond kissed the banking world goodbye and spent the rest of his life exploring birds and nature. By 1925, he was roaming the Amazon, collecting live snakes and birds. He went on to spend the rest of his career studying birds and nature at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
This was the real James Bond — a brave adventurer in his own right - and, above all else, a lifelong bird guy.
[Campo Troupial song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/233922, 0.07-.12]
For BirdNote, I’m Stein. Michael Stein.
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Producer: John Kessler
Managing Producer: Jason Saul
Editor: Ashley Ahearn
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Assistant Producer: Mark Bramhill
Narrator: Michael Stein
"James Bond Theme" Artist: John Barry; Album: The Music of John Barry; Sony 1976
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by Rich Hoyer.
"James Bond Theme" Artist: John Barry; Album: The Music of John Barry; Sony 1976 ML 233922
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2019 BirdNote July 2019
ID# bondj-01-2019-07-15 bondj-01
References: https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2016/06/13/bond-james-bond-birds-books…
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/17/obituaries/james-bond-ornithologist-…
https://ansp.org/programs-and-events/events/Details/?eid=28699&iid=76379
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v106n04/p0718-p07…
Bob Sundstrom
Writer