Birding Bond

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• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  May 2017 Posts: 8,255

  Epic connections there! fantastic! @Bruce I'm afrid no follow-ups from me, just popped into my head and since I have to do a lot of paperwork these days not much time for such fun running-arounds. Seems you got the right cars indeed! Looking foreward to the Kling Klings, only found they're actually called Jamaican Blackbird.
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  j_w_pepper wrote: »

  The train scenes of OP were filmed employing the Nene valley railroad...although I realise that the Nene in question has nothing to do with the Hawaiian state bird and you may have already mentioned it somewhere.

  Nene - ˈnā·nā/ noun
  1. goose endemic to Hawaii
  Hawaiian (Nānā).
  
  Nene (Branta sandvicensis): goose found only in Hawaii, the state bird, whose name approximates its soft call. Black and white stripes, black bill and feet. Herbivorous grazers of plants, fruit, seeds. Population at one time reduced to 30, now doing much better at around 2500 across multiple locations.
  
  Nene
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Connections to Bond are pretty remote here, resorting to a shared name (English spelling) then the Hawaii associations.
  
  Octopussy: Nene (nin; or nɛn depending on which end of the river you're on) Valley.
  Filming location, also Nene Valley Railway. Cambridgeshire, England. Used for the train action.
  They allow all sorts there.
  
  
  
  
  
  Die Another Day and another filming location: Maui's North Shore in Hawaii substituted for OO7's North Korea surfer inject. I can see where the "Jaws" came from.
  
  
  
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Even scouring Fleming's Thrilling Cities, and its chapter on Honolulu, not much bird life comes up. He does visit Kapiolani Park and the local zoo at Waikiki's east end, is impressed with the captive Emus and Cassowaries from down under. You can decide which is which.
  
  
  I'll take this opportunity to celebrate the Hawaiian Hobo fashion sense made popular in the films.
  
  Die Another Day: Pierce Brosnan back in action after imprisonment.
  Getting some humint, plus some accessories to blend in.
  Cuba. All in cool blue.
  
  
  
  Casino Royale: Daniel Craig with something to prove mixing it up with the locals, then taking chase on foot.
  Madagascar. Earth colors.
  
  
  
  
  [Note: if the second image above isn't the exact pattern (and label) screen worn in the film--then it's a tribute.]
  
  
  
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  I'm afraid I just stumbled across another target for you: The pickup that Oddjob drives in connection with Mr. Solo's pressing engagement is a Ford Falcon Ranchero (at least that's what most people seem to call the Ranchero that was built on the Falcon platform in the sixties).
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  ...and also a bit of supplement for the swallow collection: Apart from the fictitious Hirondelle cars, there was also the real-life Simca Aronde, aronde being the ancient French word for what is now hirondelle, i.e. swallow.
  
  This is a 1954 model from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  And finally (for now), I'm wondering but not able to verify at this time if there shouldn't have been liberal amounts of Alpine choughs (Pyrrhocorax graculus) and/or red-billed choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) in the Alpine scenes of OHMSS and maybe SP.
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  Sorry, have to break my promise ("finally") quicker than a politician.
  
  I just noticed that the SF "Shanghai hotel" scenes were filmed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Heron Tower, Canary Wharf, London.
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  j_w_pepper wrote: »

  ...and also a bit of supplement for the swallow collection: Apart from the fictitious Hirondelle cars, there was also the real-life Simca Aronde, aronde being the ancient French word for swallow.

  @j_w_pepper, I think we have a match. And congratulations on your mastery of ancient French.
  
  Thunderball: 1961 Simca Aronde P60 Elysée, on the Paris street outside the SPECTRE session
  http://bestmoviecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1961-Simca-Aronde-P60-Elysee.jpg
  
  Here's another 1961 Simca Aronde, same blue paint
  
  Not sure the body style, hard to see on my phone.
  
  UPDATE - based on @j_w_pepper sighting the second car, I confirmed it on IMCDB.
  imcdb.org/vehicle_935034-Simca-Aronde-P60-Elysee-1959.html
  
  1959 Simca Aronde P60 Elysée
  
  
  And apparently OO7 isn't the only one parking vehicles in the bottom of a local river.
  Here on the television program Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret.
  
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  And right beside a Thunderbird!
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  We'll get there, @j_w_pepper, we'll get there.
  
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  There seem to be even two Arondes, one on each side of the Avenue d'Eylau:
  https://abload.de/img/tbsimcasfhz4d.jpg
  
  The one on the right hand side is covered by the flic in your picture.
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  What sharp little eyes you've got...
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  Wait till you get to my tires.
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  May 2017 Posts: 8,255

  More Hawks: Bond flies a cessna 172 Skyhawk in GE and LTK.. The latter also shows an E2 Hawkeye.
  An F15 Strike Eagle is seen in TND.
  http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Tomorrow_Never_Dies#McDonnell_Douglas_F-15E_Strike_Eagle
  Not a bird completely, but the hovercraft is aparently a Griffon, in DAD.
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Noted on the raptors, @CommanderRoss.
  
  And we know where the Griffin figures in. Maybe gets a special section with the Thunderbird.
  
• Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl

  May 2017 Posts: 3,176

  I've not seen that cover before. Lovely!
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  j_w_pepper wrote: »

  I'm wondering but not able to verify at this time if there shouldn't have been liberal amounts of Alpine choughs (Pyrrhocorax graculus) and/or Red-billed choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) in the Alpine scenes of OHMSS and maybe SP.

  Gesundheit. As a quick follow-up I believe you're right and it's suggested in some quarters, as on the blog below. Even if we can't verify absolutely I'm going to go with it and make an entry for Choughs related to On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
  
  shotonlocation-eng.blogspot.com/2014/07/?m=1

  Also during the curling game Shaun Campbell, a secret agent who wants to help James Bond by climbing from Birg to Piz Gloria, is being discovered. While climbing the mountain, his presence is being revealed by the alpine choughs. These black birds with yellow bill and red legs can still be seen around Mount Schilthorn and seem to be accustomed to people.

  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Chough - 'CHəf/ (like "rough") - noun
  1. a type of crow with other than black color on bill and feet found at mountain heights or sea cliffs
  2. two non-crow species so named Down Under
  
  Old French (cauwe). Old English (cēo, and Latin Corvus of the family for jays, crows, jackdaws, choughs; ċeahhe meaning--a daw). Middle English (choughe, choȝe, coo, cheo). Proto-Germanic (kahwǭ, kahwō--jackdaw, crow). Proto-Indo-European (gewH-sounds crow, caw). Scottish (kae--jackdaw). Dutch (kauw--jackdaw, daw, chough). Swedish (kaja --jackdaw). French (chochard).
  
  Alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus, aka Yellow-billed chough) and Red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, aka Cornish chough) are members of the crow family with reddish feet. Found in the mountains of North Africa, south Eurasia, through the Alps and east to China. Alpine chough are also at Crete, Corsica, Ethiopia. Do not migrate. Smart. Masters of aerial acrobatics. Mate for life. Feed on worms, grubs, insects, and food from civilized areas. In groups, known as a chattering. Or clattering.
  
  Mountaineers, specialists at altitude. The Alpine chough nests at the greatest heights for all bird species, even following human climbers of Mount Everest to 8,200 meters. Where ranges of Alpine and Red-billed choughs overlap, Alpine are found at higher levels.
  
  White-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) are a distant relative, not true chough. Under the family of Corcoracidae (known as Australian mudnesters), along with the Apostlebird (Struthidea cinerea), the two species are found only in Australia.
  
  Alpine chough
  
  
  
  
  Red-billed chough
  
  
  White-winged chough
  
  
  Apostlebird
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Ian Fleming, 1963, Chapter 13 Princess Ruby?
  When, at nine o'clock, he awoke and threw open his windows, the sky was overcast with the heavy blank grey that meant snow. Over by the Berghaus, the Schneefinken, and Schneevogel, the Snow-finches and Alpine choughs, that lived on the crumbs and left-overs of the picnickers, were fluttering and swooping close round the building - a sure storm-warning.

  

  On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969
  Agent Shaun Saunders, attempting to assist OO7 by ascending to Piz Gloria, is given away by the noisy choughs he disturbs. It's the death of him.

  http://www.007.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bernard-Horsfall-in-OHMSS.jpg
  Maybe the first occurrence of the Peter Hunt trademark: the startling shock effect of a squawking bird or animal.
  Later focusing on pigeons.
  
  The image below confirms the Alpine chough at Piz Gloria.
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Legend says King Arthur escaped death to become a red-billed chough--therefore it's bad luck to kill one.
  Old Cornwall Society ("King Arthur is Not Dead")
  
  
  Historic to Cornwall, appearing on the Cornish Coat of Arms. Its national bird.
  
  Carried on to Canada.
  
  There is the Red-billed chough as a chronic thief and suspected firestarter, potentially alighting with an absconded burning stick or candle to set fire to fields or homes. Though they are trying to change that negative sterotype.
  
  Recognized in part by the St. Austell Brewery, founded 1851, Walter Hicks, in Cornwall.
  
  Not so sure about the bakery. Worth trying, though. Muffin, anyone?
  
  Featured in Olivier Messiaen’s "Catalogue d'oiseaux" ("Bird catalogue"), piano, 1956–58. Book 1 opens with
  "Le chocard des alpes" ("The Alpine Chough"). This version performed by the composer's wife Yvonne Loriod.
  
  Strangely, no automobiles nor aircraft named "chough".
  Yet.
  
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  May 2017 Posts: 8,255

  Is the music just that bad or couldn't the composer's wife, in fact, not play the instrument? Lovely birds these.
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Finch - fin(t)SH/ - noun
  1. a small, usually coloforful songbird with a conical bill
  
  Old English (finċ). Dutch (vink). German (fink). Proto-Germanic (finkiz). Proto-Indo-European ((s)pingos: chaffinch). Welsh (pinc). Ancient Greek (σπίγγος/spíngos: chaffinch). Russian (пе́нка/pénka: wren). Sanskrit (फिङ्गक/phiṅgaka: drongo or shrike).
  
  Finch (Fringillidae): small songbirds found in forests, or some in mountains or deserts. Short but powerful bills used to crack open seeds, though there are variations--one extreme is the Honeycreeper with its long bill used to drink nectar. Known for colorful feathers, while conversely may have earthy colors as camouflage to their environment. Usually non-migratory and static. Found worldwide excepting polar regions and Australia. Popular caged birds in homes. The Finch name is misapplied to many species, which can actually be sparrows and other types. Exhibit sexual dimorphism--males visually different from females.
  
  True finch include Siskin, Serin, Grosbeak, Goldfinch, Crossbill, Redpoll, Parrotbill. Also very different forms like the fore-mentioned Honeycreeper and even the Canary. Hundreds of possibilities, known for colorful varieties.
  
  Red siskin (Spinus cucullata)
  
  European serin (Serinus serinus)
  
  Evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus), Blue grosbeak (Passerina caerulea), Rose-breasted grosbeak(Pheucticus ludovicianus)
  
  American goldfinch (Spinus tristis, male and female)
  
  Canary (Serinus canaria forma domestica)
  
  Red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
  
  Common redpoll (Acanthis flammea)
  
  Vinous-throated parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana)
  
  Layson finch (Telespiza cantans, a Hawaiian honeycreeper, male and female)
  
  
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  j_w_pepper wrote: »

  ...somewhat (even) more remote suggestions, @RichardTheBruce: One contender for the role of James Bond after DAF was Jon Finch. Also, famously transsexual FYEO Bond girl Caroline Fossey married one David Finch.

  [pause] ...I'll do my best.
  

  On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Ian Fleming, 1963, Chapter 13 Princess Ruby?
  When, at nine o'clock, he awoke and threw open his windows, the sky was overcast with the heavy blank grey that meant snow. Over by the Berghaus, the Schneefinken, and Schneevogel, the Snow-finches and Alpine choughs, that lived on the crumbs and left-overs of the picnickers, were fluttering and swooping close round the building - a sure storm-warning.

  The Snow-finch is limited to 8 possibilities--I'm guessing the White-winged snowfinch is the one vicinity Piz Gloria, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
  
  White-winged snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis)
  
  
  Henri's snowfinch (or Tibetan snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis henrici)
  
  Tibetan snowfinch (or black-winged snowfinch, Montifringilla adamsi)
  
  Afghan snowfinch (Montifringilla theresae)
  
  White-rumped snowfinch (Montifringilla taczanowskii)
  
  Père David's snowfinch (or small snowfinch, Montifringilla davidiana)
  
  Rufous-necked snowfinch (Montifringilla ruficollis)
  
  Blanford's snowfinch (or Plain-backed snowfinch, Montifringilla blanfordi)
  
  Jon Finch, contender for the Bond role circa Live and Let Die
  
  David Finch and Caroline Cossey (For Your Eyes Only)—did I mention sexual dimorphism?
  
  
  I'll seize the opportunity to recognize some talent behind the scenes.
  Jeff Finch - plasterer (Casino Royale, Skyfall, Spectre)
  Wick Finch - gaffer: second unit (Skyfall); electrician (Never Say Never Again)
  Andrea Finch- makeup & hair: second unit (Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre)
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 edited May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Fleet Finch Model 16, tandem training biplane, Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario.
  Most used with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, WWII.
  
  Mount Finch, Victory Mountains of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The only finch there. 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) high. Named for U.S. Navy Lieutenant Jerry L. Finch of Squadron VX-6, aircraft commander plus project officer for infrared ice sounding, Operation Deep Freeze, 1968.
  
  
  Consider: Mount Fleming, Victoria Land, Antarctica, named for paleontologist Dr. C.A. Fleming, New Zealand.
  
  
  Pungs Finch 1906 Limited Touring car, powerful automobile built in Detroit, Michigan.
  
  
  Compare to the film car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968, designed by Ken Adam and (cartoonist, sculptor) Frederick Rowland Emett. Built by Alan Mann Racing in Hertfordshire based on 1920s models.
  With a Ford 3000 V6 engine. (It could fly.)
  
  
  Finch Society of Australia Inc. Publishers of The Finch Breeders Review, bi-monthly.
  Their Bird Trader focuses on trading and selling of birds--wouldn't have 'em there otherwise.
  
• CommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  May 2017 Posts: 8,255

  Well, that's why we're here in the first place: for the birds.
• j_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'

  May 2017 Posts: 9,032

  Or to quote another Hitchcock movie (Torn Curtain: Strictly for the birds.
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  Grackle - ˈɡrak·əl/ - noun
  1. a blackbird variation with a long tail, its black plumage has blue-green iridescence, with striking yellow eye circle
  
  Latin (Gracula, from Graculus as jackdaw).
  
  Grackle (Icterid ): medium-sized black birds with long tails. Feed on fruit, vegetation, bugs, small animals. Smart, function well in civilized environments--as such, may resort to thievery. Gregarious, during migration may gather in groups of thousands. Golden-eyed.
  
  
  
  Eleven species across the Americas--a subspecies of the Greater Antillain grackle is native to Jamaica.
  Greater Antillean grackle (Quiscalus niger)
  
  Boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major)
  
  Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
  
  Great-tailed grackle (aka Mexican grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus)
  
  Slender-billed grackle (Quiscalus palustris)
  
  Nicaraguan grackle (Quiscalus nicaraguensis)
  
  Carib grackle (aka Lesser Grackle, Quiscalus lugubris)
  
  Red-bellied grackle (Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster)
  
  Velvet-fronted grackle (Lampropsar tanagrinus)
  
  Golden-tufted grackle (Macroagelaius imthurni)
  
  Colombian mountain grackle (Macroagelaius subalaris)
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  
  James Bond's Birds of the West Indies reports:

  GREATER ANTILLIAN GRACKLE Quiscalus niger
  Local names: Tinkling; Cling-cling; Ting–ting (Jamaica); Ching-ching (Cayman Is.); Chinchinguaco; Hachuela; Quiebra (Cuba); Chinchilin (Dom. Rep.); Mozambique; Chango; Pichon Prieto (Puerto Rico); Merle (Haiti).
  Description: 10-12”. Male: Black with a violet or steel-blue gloss; iris light yellow, appearing white. Female: Smaller and duller than male. Immature individuals have light brown irides. Grackles have V-shaped tailes, most evident in males. They are highly gregarious.
  Voice: Utters various harsh or rasping sounds, such as chak-chak or chin-chin-chi-lin; occasionally high-pitched whee-see-ee or a ringing bell-like note.
  Habitat: More or less open, settled districts. Great numbers roost in some towns (e.g. Havana and Santa Clara).
  Nidification: In colonies, the cup-shaped nests usually high above the ground in trees or palms; rarely in cat-tails. Eggs (3-5) pale bluish or putty coloured, spotted and scrawled.
  Range: Cuba (including many coastal cays), Isle of Pines, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola (including adjacent islands), Puerto Rico and Vieques Islands.
  
  
  LESSER ANTILLEAN GRACKLE Quiscalus Iugubris
  Local names: Blackbird; Bequia-sweet; Merle.
  Description: 9.5-11”. Male: closely resembles males of Q. niger. Female: Females on Barbados are rather dull black; those from Grenada to St. Lucia are paler; those from Martinique to Montsserrat much paler, the under-parts inclining to white, particularly on throat.
  Voice: Somewhat louder and harsher than that of preceding species and differs on various islands. A common rendering is wee-tsi-ke-tsi-ke-tsi-ke, another etsywee-wee-wee-tsuk-tsuk.
  Habitat: settled districts.
  Nidification: In colonies, in trees or palms. Nest and eggs like those of other grackles.
  Range: Lesser Antilles from Montserrat and Guadaloupe south to Barbados and Grenada. Individuals from Barbados have been introduced to Barbuda, Antigua and St. Kitts. Also northern South America, including Trinidad and Tobago, and some Venezuelan islands.

  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  May 2017 Posts: 13,792

  

  The Man with the Golden Gun, Ian Fleming, 1965.
  "Hell! You got me talking so much I've forgot Joe and May. It's their supper." She went to the cafe window and wound it down. At once, from the direction of the lignum vitae tree, two large black birds, slightly smaller than ravens, whirled in, circled the interior of the cafe amidst a metallic clangour of song unlike the song of any other bird in the world, and untidily landed on the counter within reach of Bond's hand. They strutted up and down imperiously, eyeing Bond without fear from bold, golden eyes and went through a piercing repertoire of tinny whistles and trills, some of which required them to ruffle themselves up to almost twice their normal size.
  Tiffy went back behind the bar, took two pennies out of her purse, rang them up on the register, and took two ginger cakes out of the flyblown display case. She broke off bits and fed the two birds, always the smaller of the two, the female, first, and they greedily seized the pieces from her fingers and, holding the scraps of the wooden counter with a claw, tore them into smaller fragments and devoured them. When it was all over, and Tiffy had chided them both for pecking her fingers, they made small, neat white messes on the counter and looked pleased with themselves. Tiffy took a cloth and cleaned up the messes. She said, "We call them kling-klings but learned folk call them Jamaican grackles. They're very friendly folk. The doctor-bird, the humming bird with the streamer tail, is the Jamaican national bird, but I like these best. They're not so beautiful, but they're the friendliest birds and they're funny besides. They seem to know it. They're like naughty black thieves."
  The kling-klings eyed the cake stand and complained stridently that their supper was over. James Bond produced twopence and handed it over. "They're wonderful. Like mechanical toys. Give them a second course from me."

  The Penguin editions of the Fleming novel recognize the bird known in Jamaica as the Kling kling.
  
  How do they end? Not well.

  She stared at James Bond. Her mouth opened but no sound came from the gaping lips. She liked him and she knew he was dead. The kling-klings, Joe and May, smelled the same electricity. With a tremendous din of metallic squawks, they fled for the open window, like black thieves escaping into the night.
  The explosions from the Colt .45 were deafening. The two birds disintegrated against the violet backdrop of the dusk, the scraps of feathers and pink flesh blasting out of the yellow light of the cafe into the limbo of the deserted street like shrapnel.