A gannet was released back into the wild after it had been brought to the Island in the recent storms.

A Harrington Sound couple saved the bird after it crashed into their wall and landed on their lawn.

The turbulent winter winds often suck up birds far out at sea and dump them in backyards and this was the case with a few unlucky gannets caught in the storm that battered the Island last week.

One bird was found dead and a second flew into the wall of a Harrington Sound house, while a third was seen flying off St. George's coast.

These birds were no doubt a few hundred miles off their normal range and considered to be a rare vagrant in Bermuda, as they breed in the North Atlantic, Britain, Ireland, Brittany, Norway, Faeroe, Iceland and Atlantic Canada.

The Canadian gannets winter in the south eastern United States from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico.

Kay and Nelson Trecice immediately alerted the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BAMZ) and locked up their dog.

The bird was taken to BAMZ where it showed no obvious signs of injury, but while the animal was weak, underweight and covered in chewing lice it was otherwise in good condition.

"Gannets, a member of the booby family, are not known for their intelligence and once in captivity the bird appeared unperturbed by the presence of humans," said Jennifer Gray, BAMZ head aquarist and president of the Bermuda Audubon Society.

"One would think that such a bird would be terrified of the likes of us, after all, for the first three years of its life, it would normally only catch glimpses of other marine birds, fish and perhaps the occasional whale or dolphin, but never the land-lubbing sight like the human."

Ms Gray said for two days the gannet sat "dopily" in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at BAMZ. It refused food and stared at its new surroundings.

Ms Gray said: "We were not encouraged by its behaviour and we were loathe to force feed such a big specimen.

"Finally on day three, it willingly swallowed its vitamin-stuffed dead fish and it hasn't looked back since.

"True to its reputation, the gannet eats up to five pounds of fish per day and each fish consists of a foot-long herring or mackerel, which disappears down the gullet in one fell swoop, followed by a fourth, fifth or even tenth fish."

Ms Gray said the fish gained a few pounds over the last week and spent its time washing, preening and exercising in its own 1,000 gallon seawater tank on the coastal cliff behind the Aquarium.

After a final health check, the bird was released on Tuesday evening.

"Those of us who had the opportunity to observe and work with this exceptional specimen of bird will be left with recollections of a stunning and ostentatiously striking and not so sharp-witted bird," said Ms Gray.