My friend Peter is part of a subculture that’s you might never guess exists in the concrete jungle. He’s an avid bird watcher, venturing out into New York’s many green spaces to crane his neck up into the trees with his telephoto lens. I went along with him once, it was a bonified walk in the park! He shares his incredible captures of New York’s high fliers on Instagram @degibirdpix, so all his friends know what a bird nerd he is. Which means he was flooded with messages and texts when the Mandarin Duck, also known as Hot Duck, arrived in NYC. Here’s his story about meeting and photographing NYC’s biggest wildlife celebrity.

Encountering Central Park’s Famous Hot Duck

Alternative title: Peter and the Duck. As told by Peter DeGiglio

This unclaimed feral drake Mandarin duck is indigenous to Asia and Europe. It mysteriously showed up in Central Park last fall and has since taken up residence. Here’s one of my best shots of the Mandarin duck, or as I’ve taken to calling him, Mandy Pâtékin… (see what I did there?)

Last week while I was observing this gorgeous creature, I witnessed some ignorant and selfish behavior on the part of an older couple…that let’s assume were tourists.

A Simple Guide to Making Everyone in Central Park HATE YOU

The lady, first of all, climbed onto some rocks that were clearly marked as DANGEROUS by park staff, due to the pileup of snow overnight. I and several others watched with utter contempt as the woman gleefully and playfully began to pick up small clumps of snow and hurl them at our favorite celebrity fowl.

Yes, that’s right. She started tossing snow at NYC’s most eligible bachelor (according to New York Magazine).

As I and several others began choruses of “Hey! Stop! Don’t do that!,” she sat there, giggling away, while her male counterpart encouraged her to continue as we all watched this poor animal get hit with handfuls of snow!

Our protests grew progressively louder for several seconds and several more snow-pile tosses. She finally stopped and started to leave. One guy behind me growled, “Well, I hope you got the pictures you wanted!”

People. Animals DO NOT exist purely for YOUR entertainment!!! Harassing an animal is NEVER okay!!! NEVER! I mean, what the actual f@*k?!?!?!? You just had to have a photo of yourself harassing an animal you saw on the local news?!?? Not to mention the fact that they were being incredibly rude to me and every other human there trying to respectfully photograph the creature at the time!!

PSA: LEAVE ANIMALS ALONE. Just because you’re an upright walking, complex language-using primate doesn’t make you more important than them, assh*les.

Peter, in his natural bird watching habitat. Thanks for sharing this egregious duck tale, Peter!

Peter DeGiglio not only beautifully photographs birds, he gets the best angles of humans as well. He prides himself on offering affordable rates for his photography services, in a city notorious for the opposite. I 100% vouch for this guy: he’s friendly, talented, and will swiftly make even the most camera-shy bird feel at ease. Check out his website www.degigliophotography.com and book him for all your head shot needs- be they actor, profession, or blogging/lifestyle. Tell him you read this article and he might even offer a Hot Duck deal!