This evening, I watched a cormorant at Sam Smith Park take off carrying a stick. It took about 30 seconds to to manipulate the stick into the position it wanted for carrying. The stick wasn't particularly big, but it circled the harbour once to get enough height to clear the peninsula. I watched to see where it was headed, and it disappeared to the east. The closest nesting colonies I know of are in the Humber River and on the Leslie Street Spit. Both seem like an awfully long way to be carrying that stick!
BB