Confused cormorant

Friday's rains caused a Brandt's cormorant to make a terrible error. During the night, the aquatic bird landed on wet pavement in a Hollister neighborhood, mistaking the reflective surface for a body of water. 

Cormorants have relatively small wings and cannot take flight from a standstill - they need a "runway" of water to get the speed needed to lift off. It was stranded.

Saturday morning, WES received a call from a resident who saw the bird walking down the street, but they lost sight of it before we could get a volunteer responder on scene.

This afternoon, the bird was spotted again, not far from the original location.

Deanna was on scene within minutes and found the bird enjoying a dip in a child's pool. 

She collected the animal and performed a quick exam before placing it into a carrier. The bird appeared healthy - there were no injuries.

Deanna drove the bird to the nearest body of water and released it.