Salgado-3655, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

Readers of this blog might remember the sad demise of Sideways a few months ago, and ever since his passing Life here really hasn’t felt the same, especially for the rest of the crowd – Meiktila in particular was missing a friend – so the other day Daniela thought she’d surprise us all with a new puppy, and here he is.
Then came the inevitable, “What shall we call him?” The children were predictably inventive, and when he started munching on water melon rinds the suggestion was “Tudo” as in “Come tudo” or “Eat anything”, but Daniela didn’t like that one.
I of course wanted to continue the tradition of a battlefield name and fought hard, (but with not as much success as real life I’m afraid), for “Kohima” or “Kima” for short, but nobody else liked it.
Finally, yesterday evening over dinner we had a brainwave … with the threat facing one of our favourite birding spots, Salgados, at the moment, we should call him Salgado – just in case we’re unsuccessful in this battle! At least we’ll have a name to remember the area we love now – and hope to continue to be able to do so for years to come too, so if you haven’t already signed our petition to save Salgados – or Péra Marsh as it’s sometimes known – please do so by clicking on the link attached and share on your Facebook page and Twitter as well.
We started this petition 36 hours ago and are just shy of 1,000 signatures already so let’s all get aboard and save this unique and valued area – for us and our children just as much as for the birds, butterflies, dragonflies, moths and mammals for whom it is vital.