great cormorant eats the whole fish instantly

The slick, obsidian form of the Great Cormorant broke the mirror-still surface of the lake, a dark shard against the bruised twilight sky. For a moment, it was perfectly still, a prehistoric gargoyle with eyes like polished amber, water streaming from its glossy back. But then, there it was: a flash of silver, a substantial fish, held firmly in its powerful, hooked beak.

It was no small fry. This was a proper meal, a thick-bodied perch, its scales still gleaming, its tail fanning a final, desperate tremor against the air. Any lesser bird might have spent minutes, even longer, wrestling with such a catch, manipulating it, breaking it down. But the cormorant was a creature of singular purpose and awe-inspiring efficiency.

There was no hesitation, no visible struggle. The cormorant did not toss or tear. Instead, with a motion so fluid and instantaneous it seemed to defy physics, its head tilted, its formidable beak opened to an impossible gape, and the entire fish, head-first, slid into the cavern of its throat.

It was a blink-and-you-miss-it spectacle. One moment, the fish was there, a vibrant, struggling entity. The next, it was gone, vanished as if by a conjurer’s trick. The cormorant’s long, muscular neck distended, a fleeting, bulging line tracing the fish’s descent, then swiftly contracted back to its sleek form. All of this unfolded in less time than it takes to draw a breath.

A single, almost imperceptible shake of its head, as if adjusting to the sudden weight, and the cormorant was once again a still, watchful presence. The ripples from its emergence spread out and faded, leaving no trace of the dramatic, brutal efficiency that had just played out. The perch, a living, breathing creature moments before, was now fuel, instantly absorbed into the dark, powerful engine of the ancient diver. It was a stark, breathtaking testament to nature’s raw, unceremonious power, a silent gulp that swallowed not just a fish, but a moment of absolute wonder.