10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

To us on the traditional side of the Atlantic, they’ll always belong to the family Iznogoudae , the birds who want to become warblers instead of the warblers. As we move from Spain towards the east however, it starts getting interesting as soon as we reach Italy. And do they ever try so hard.

Sparrows 227

Sparrows Italy Asia Austria 227

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2022

In fact, the family name Lanius derives from a Latin word for “butcher”, though the “butcherbird” was a butcher long before humans even developed the language to describe these activities. Who knows – perhaps early humans got the idea of cutting and hanging meat by watching these shrikes at work in their arboreal abbatoirs?

2019 234

2019 Butcher Livestock 2006 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2019

After three visits to southern Italy, followed by a lone excursion to Belgium, we’ll head back south to end our month-long “Grand Tour” of falconry-themed wine and ales in Portugal. Quinta do Casal Branco has been in the family of winemaker José Lobo de Vasconcelos for over two centuries, since 1775.

2016 133

2016 Portugal Falcons Japan 133