Northern Gannet Descriptive Writing

Shifting its weight from side to side, the sugar-covered Northern gannet holds its short wings aloft, preparing to jump from a rugged boulder. After a careful scope of the diamond-crusted sea below, the white adventurer tenses before leaping from the mossy cliff. Briefly the gannet plunges--flapping its wings determinately until the stiff breeze lifts its stout form above the salty ocean spray. Swiftly rising through the clear air, the Northern gannet angles its broad, unmoving wings like a sleek glider plane. Round and round in broad circles the fish-catcher flies; scouring the sapphire sea for a flash of fins beneath the blue. Fellow bird brethren join in his wheeling loops; their swooping and swerving create moving clouds in the shining sky. …show more content…
With the synchrony of a trained air-force squadron, the birds fold their black-tipped wings and slice through the wind like arrows hitting the water’s surface. Only a lucky few shoot out clutching unfortunate fish in their gray beaks, spraying sparkling ocean droplets while climbing back into the air. The successful hunter’s throat muscles flex and writhe: the Northern gannet gobbles down its prize whole. After finishing the day’s spoils, the fulfilled flier soars back around to the crags where it resides. Landing as lightly as its pale feathers, the gannet becomes yet another speck of white in the endless flock roosting on the cliffside. Squawks and screeches battle with the roaring gusts--the ocean crashes against unyielding rocks. Two mates rub their short beaks together with the gentleness of a lover’s carrass. Surrounded by their family, the two gannets flutter their wings and nestle down in the mossy rocks. The contented pair is at home as two snowflakes in a mellow, sea-side blizzard of