Ian Fleming, who wrote the first 12 007 novels and two 007 short-story collections, was born on May 28, 1908.

He wrote his first 007 novel and "lifted" ( his word) the name of Philadelphia ornithologist James Bond for his secret agent in early 1952.

The two men for the first and only time at Goldeneye in Jamaica in February 1964.

Above is the only known photo of the two men, taken by Mary Wickham Bond, James Bond's wife.  Photo courtesy of the Rare Book Department, Free Library of Philadelphia.

Today's Maine Sunday Telegram has an article on my book, birds, James Bond, and my three upcoming talks on Mount Desert Island.

Staff writer Deirdre Fleming did a great job.

You can read the article.here.

Here's the newspaper's info on the three talks:

WRIGHT, JIM WRIGHT

If you can never get enough of James Bond trivia – or birding in Maine, join author Jim Wright’s talks:

• Northeast Harbor Library on June 2. Call 207-276-3333.

• Acadia Birding Festival on June 6, Go to acadiabirdingfestival.com

• The MDI Science Cafe on June 14. Go to mdibl.org

If you're headed to Maine in early June, don't miss the Acadia Birding Festival on Mount Desert Island, from June 3 to June 6.

I'll be giving a talk on Sunday, June 6, at 1 p.m. at the terrific Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor.

The topic:  Carroll Tyson, James Bond and Mount Desert Island. Tyson's fine-arts prints of the birds of Mount Desert Island are on display there.

I'll also be helping with two guided walks on the real James Bond's old stomping grounds of Pretty Marsh and Long Pond.

The festival's website is here. (I even wrote about the festival in my book.)

The Real James Bond typically traveled by mail ship when he went to the Caribbean to do his research for the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered he sailed on the luxurious S.S. America to the West Indies  on May 5, 1941 --80 years ago today.

What was he doing on this high-end cruise ship? Did it involve Nazi spies?

I guess you should read my book. (This photo was likely taken early in the ship's career).

By the time Bond sailed on her, her sides had huge U.S. flags painted, along with AMERICA and UNITED STATES LINES in huge letters on her sides to deter U-boats.

Shortly after the cruise, the luxury liner was converted into a troopship and renamed the U.S.S. West Point.

The wonderful birding blog 10,000 Birds just posted my short article about the St. Vincent Parrot, a magnificent bird now threatened with extinction -- something that the real James Bond feared way back in 1928.

You can read the article here.

You can read more on the latest news about the parrot and the volcano-ravaged island of St. Vincent -- and how you can help save the parrot -- here.