That above is a rare East Asian Mandarin Duck that popped up in Central Park earlier this week, which caused quite a stir.

Across the internet, it came to be known as ‘Hot Duck’, because clearly America is desperate for some good news in the midst of a toxic political battle.

New Yorkers, and indeed visitors of the city, flocked to Central Park to snap a picture of the feathered beauty.

Seriously, look at them:

Here’s a little on the surge in popularity from Gizmodo:

The tale of the Hot Duck is now as stale as a soft pretzel floating in a pond, but here’s a recap anyway. On October 10, birder Gus Keri spotted a Mandarin duck in Central Park, then the duck disappeared before reappearing two weeks later, upon which it started a social media and news media storm. The New York Times wrote about it…

We should mention that the mandarin duck is a common pet, and it’s more than likely that this duck escaped from an aviary or private residence, but that didn’t stop the Big Apple from getting into it.

Then, via Jezebel, the panic:

It’s been much sought after and documented for weeks, but on Wednesday Dave Barrett, a bird watcher, told CBS “It was not seen yesterday and despite my posting about it today and encouraging people to look for it, it has not been seen today.”

…“This makes me nervous,” wrote one worried duck fan. “Thoughts and prayers,” said another.

Yeah, people are freaking out:

Thankfully, this has a happy ending. Here’s the New York Post:

The duck suddenly reappeared out of the reeds at the pond Thursday morning, according to an avid birdwatcher who had been waiting for the creature to come back.

“It can fly,” [David Barrett, creator and manager of the Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert] said of the special duck. “We’ve seen it fly short distances at the pond … it has flown slightly longer distances at least a few times.”

Barrett added: “It has shown that it likes to wander and try out new habitats.”

Nonetheless, Barrett said he’s thrilled to have the rare bird back in Central Park.

“I am delighted to learn that our Mandarin duck has returned,” he said. “He has brought a lot of joy to New Yorkers in his brief time here, and it’s great to have him back!”

That’s it – take a deep breath, because ‘Hot Duck’ is safe and sound and all is well with the world.

Look at it go:

The MANDARIN DUCK struts on a rock and then swims like a tiny sailboat on the Central Park Pond today in this Gus Keri close-up video pic.twitter.com/2cMj3xBmFu

— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) November 9, 2018

Happy Friday.

[sources:jezebel&gizmodo&newyorkpost]