Gull skull

It’s a Great Black-backed Gull, the world’s largest member of the family Laridae (gulls). Beyond the glass case is an illustration of a Great Auk. They are now extinct, but they toddled around on our shores as recently as the mid-1800s.

The gull skeleton is so large and upright, and the beak so thick, at first I thought it might be an auk. But it’s not.

This display is in the section on the natural history of the Isles of Shoals, which is part of the archeological Under the Shoals Exhibit, appearing at the Discover Portsmouth Center. I stopped by to see it on Market Square Day in Portsmouth. There were thousands of people half a block away, but just three other visitors viewing the exhibit. It is worth a look.

I took this picture in part because I am fascinated by birds. I recently made myself a Notebook of Bird Wonder, using tumblr. It’s called all birds have feathers.

Recent postings on my place blog Seacoast Shorts:

Dogs on Seacoast beaches

Hampton Fish House memories