While most Cape and Island residents and visitors thought little of Hurricane Arthur, its arrival here on the 4th of July was very bad news for many nesting birds. Nantucket and the Outer Cape were lashed with Tropical Storm Force winds that quickly started from the NE at 7:30 P.M. at a steady 50 miles per hour, gusting to 70, until almost midnight with Nantucket reporting some hurricane force gusts accompanied by torrential, wind-driven rain. By dawn on the 5th the winds had moved around to the NW at a brisk 30 to 35 miles per hour and skies were clearing as this large tropical system moved away rapidly to the Maritime Provinces. The damage had been done during the night.
While most human observers shrugged their shoulders and said the storm was no big deal it was a disaster for many beach nesting birds and for many Ospreys - at least on Nantucket. One nest pole at Jackson Point, at the west end of the island which is only about 15 feet high and has been very productive suffered mightily. The wind actually blew the large heavy nest, right off the pole with the 3 fairly large nestlings in it. It crashed below the pole upside down and no chicks survived. It was heartbreaking at dawn on July 5th to see the female on the pole calling down to the wreckage of the nest on the ground every 5 seconds. She was clearly traumatized by the disaster.
The good news is that neither adult Osprey was injured and they will hopefully live to breed another year. But for this season they have no young birds as Hurricane Arthur, freakishly hitting our area on the 4th of July destroyed their efforts that began with their return from South America in late March. At least 2 other Osprey nests on Nantucket lost their nestlings during the night. One nest was on the ground on the beach where blowing sand and surf gave it little chance of surviving. Another nest site has failed for a second consecutive season after being one of the most productive nests at fledging young on the island. Last year it was the wettest June ever that caused the chicks to get wet and cold and this year it was the short but powerful visit of Hurricane Arthur passing by almost 100 miles away in the night. It is tough out there in the natural world.
Then there is what happened on the beach to species that lay their eggs on the sand and where this is little cover for chicks. A Least Tern colony on the west end of the island with almost 300 nests was destroyed by the storm. The next morning revealed devastation and with blowing sand obscuring the details it was clear that this entire colony, one of the largest in Massachusetts had suffered a disaster. Even without waves washing over the beach, the blowing sand obliterated the unfortunate chicks that were sheltering there. Fortunately it seems all the adults somehow survived.
The same fate happened to many Piping Plover nests and young. The early in the season hurricane was extremely damaging to the breeding success of many species. While not too bad for the human inhabitants, although the storm did cause problems and a fair bit of damage-it was brutal in certain areas for specific species. Although rare this was not the first or last hurricane to hit so early in the season and the birds involved have all evolved to deal with natural disaster. It is too late to successfully renest this year, although some birds will try, fortuitously there is always next year.
