WATCH: ‘Such a joyful sight’: Dunnottar couple rescues pelican trapped on Lake Winnipeg shoreline

Dave Konefall’s Wednesday afternoon walk with his dogs on the shoreline of Lake Winnipeg quickly changed gears when he spotted a large bird in distress.

“We took the dogs down to the beach, and our German shepherd bolted up the beach as there were some birds near the shore on a little bit of a sandbar,” Konefall said.

“One of the pelicans did not take off, and it was struggling wildly as though it was leashed somehow.”

Konefall, who owns Dunnottar Tree Pruning and Landscaping, was with his wife, Korey Williams, when the couple spotted the pelican. He said they quickly ran to their house to grab a pair of scissors and a blanket to help the bird break free from the fish netting it was ensnared in.

“We walked up to it, and it was clearly struggling, flapping to get away with its beak stuck in a fishing net that had washed ashore full of about 50 fish,” Konefall said.

“I guess (the net) got away from someone’s moorings and had been sitting there for a couple of days, and the birds were all feeding on it, and the pelican had been a little overzealous about trying to do that and got its little caruncle on the top of its beak, stuck in the netting.”

A caruncle is a lump that develops on a pelican’s beak during mating season.

Konefall covered the pelicans’ eyes with the blanket in hopes of calming it down. He said the pelican was made at ease, and he was able to grab the caruncle on its beak and use the scissors to free it from the netting.

“I took the blanket off of his eyes; it gave me a quick snap and boogied,” Konefall said as the couple watched the pelican fly over to be with other birds nearby.

He laughed and said they had never had an experience like this, aside from rescuing tiny wrens and swallows that had bumped into windows of their house.

The feeling of watching the pelican fly away was something he will never forget.

“I was so overjoyed that the animal survived because it was in peril,” Konefall said.

“I don’t know how long it had been sitting there, but it wouldn’t have made it. It would have been either prey to another animal, or it would have potentially permanently injured itself, flapping and struggling to get away because there was no way that was happening on its own.”