Blue CU2 - Jimmy's Story

What happened to a fine bird

A
3 yr old
male osprey
born in Scotland
near Carsphairn
Dumfries & Galloway

ringed Blue CU2 on July 8, 2012

 

Video of Jimmy / Blue CU2

with kind permission of Emyr Evans
Manager Dyfi Osprey Project (DOP)

Live footage of CU2 intruding at the Dyfi nest in August 2014. At 2 years old, he was presumed returning to the UK for the first time having survived the hazards of migration. He was passing through Wales perhaps on his way back to Scotland. Ospreys like to check out other nests and here he is causing quite a commotion!

Read about Jimmmy on the DOP Blog

CU2 Jimmy Returns Again in 2015

Blue CU2 was the first male Osprey to land on the Glaslyn nest in the 2015 season, on Wed 15th April, given the sad non-return of 11/98. He was a striking bird who held his ground while the resident female mantled. By his third landing the female, Mrs G, was beginning to relax and the following morning she allowed him to mate with her and accepted a fish from him.
However he was quickly displaced that same morning by Mrs G's 3 yr old son Blue 80.

Jimmy pictured when he landed for the first time on the Glaslyn nest in Apiril 2015

But on the Sunday 19th April Blue CU2 Jimmy was back and Blue 80 moved on. He took up as the mystery male in a nearby tree, his identity not evident at first. The female took to a fast chase where Jimmy performed impressive acrobatic flight witnessed by Gail. He flew a short distance off, and undeterred was soon back roosting nearby again. On the Monday evening there was confusion. The female flew over to attract Jimmy's attention who had not yet dared to land back on the nest, only to return to the nest herself and promptly lay an egg! The egg appeared infertile as neither the female nor Jimmy ever incubated it. Two further eggs were laid while Jimmy was around but none of these were incubated either and somehow Jimmy never settled as a mate. The background images show him fishing over the Cob with kind permission of Elfyn Lewis.

Jimmy spent longer and longer away from the Glaslyn nest and on Wednesday 29th April moved away completely by his own volition ojust one day before Aran came on the scene. He flew a distance off, making his way 25 miles northeast up to the Mynydd Hiraethog Denbigh moor, north of Pentrefloelas, Conwy County. During the week following he was spotted several times perching with a fish on fencing along the A543.

HIS LIFE TOOK A FATEFUL TURN

On Monday 11th May Jimmy was to catch his last fish.
It was a very wet windy morning with likely dense mist and somehow he found his way with fish to feed on the fateful killer pole. By late morning Scottish Power engineers were called out to investigate and outage to find poor Jimmy tragically electrocuted, hanging over a transformer of an medium voltage end power pole, holding a part eaten fish thought to be a trout.

image of Jimmy electrocuted when he was laid on the ground by the bto

He has a blood burn mark on his beak showing where the electrcity had likely entered his body.
His left wing was completly severed off and both talons were horribly scorched. He would have died instantly from a heart attack as 11,000 volts passed through him.

image of Jimmy electrocuted when he was laid on the ground by the bto

It was a horribly tragic ending to a beautiful bold bird who had tasted of life, survived the long migration to and from Africa with its many pitfalls, come close to breeding, a young bird reaching sexual maturity who had decided to prospect for his own nest and mate and was minding his own business doing what Ospreys do..

Such a cruel blow of fate.
His life stolen by a power pole.
RIP Jimmy