Gulls are often maligned as “rats of the sky,” but is that assessment warranted? Isn’t there beauty in their plaintive calls? Aren’t they as evocative of the coast as salt air, foghorns, bell buoys, lobster boats and lighthouses?
Or are they simply too common, too messy and too pushy to deserve our admiration?
Gulls, love them or hate them, are smart, fascinating, even beautiful, as our gallery shows. Just don’t call them seagulls. Birders will tell you there is no such animal.

An apple a day really can help keep the doctor away, and even during a pandemic, apple picking can be a healthy outdoor activity, with masks and precautions in place.

Lights at night, sailors’ delight. Under a blue, dusky sky on Saturday, a flotilla of more than a dozen private and commercial vessels launched into Casco Bay for the 16th annual Parade of Lights. The boats, adorned with festive strings of Christmas lights and inflatable lawn decorations, circled the mouth of Portland Harbor before forming […]