Fallout in Central Park: Numbers, Quality, and RARITIES!

I arrived in the park at 7:30. but rain kept me stuck under the boathouse awning for more than half an hours. Many other birders joined me. When it opened, we had some quick refreshments and then got out. Within 5 minutes of going into the Ramble, it became clear that this was no ordinary good migration day. Flocks of warblers were singing from almost every tree. This was fallout. Fallout is what happens when a storm or pressure system forces flocks of birds to "fall" from the sky into an area. The result is some of the best birding days in the park. I started seeing many species everywhere, including Scarlet Tanager (#122) and Magnolia Warbler (#123), both of which I would see quite a few more. At Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond, there was a lot of variety, including multiple Blackburnians (#124), a Cape May, and American Redstart (#125). Many more warblers were seen, and around 10:25 I received a text of an AMERICAN BITTERN at the Oven! I rushed over there and got great views of this lifer (#126), If that wasn't good enough, there was also a YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON (#127) nearby! More warblers, Swainson's Thrush (#128) in Maintenance Meadow, Red-Eyed Vireo (#129) in Tupelo Meadow. Then I received a text of a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo at the Swampy Pin Oak. One of my nemesis birds from last year. I rushed over there and spent a lot of time looking for it (some say there were two). Just as I was about to give up, a large brown bird flew into a bush out in the open at eye level. The cuckoo (#130)! It then flew, and as the birders said earlier, it moved very quickly, but I caught up with it a minute later. Not long after, I received a text of a CHUCK-WILL'S WIDOW in Mugger's Woods. The chase was on! Birders were running throughout the Ramble. In less than ten minutes, more than 50 birders have swarmed to get a look at this pigeon-sized bird (#131) sleeping on a log. A great year addition, but not a lifer, as I had one last year in April in Bryant Park. I saw or heard 74 species today, a personal record, and had 16 warbler species. It was an amazing day!