Top of the Morning, Aug. 14, 2024

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ClarkLindsey’s Resident Duck has quite a story — and, with the help of clever resident Harold Diamond, often writes about it.

One of 13 chicks hatched in the Urbana retirement community’s courtyard in May, Resident Duck was the lone survivor. “A predator decided to try out his recipe for duck soup, and no sooner than you could say Lebensversicherungsgesselschaft, our family was reduced to Mom and myself,” Resident Duck wrote. “She always referred to me as Lucky Duck.”

Today, Resident Duck can be found by the koi pond, a feathered celebrity who is friendly with passersby (especially those with food). Her popularity can be traced to Diamond, an 84-year-old retired University of Illinois math professor whose apartment looks out to the courtyard. That’s where a camera-carrying Diamond saved the mallard’s day as a nearby hawk licked its chops. As Resident Duck later wrote: “I had the wits to quack up a storm. This brought Harold and his picture-box into the courtyard. The hawk did not seem very impressed with either of them, but —evidently deciding that I was now out of his league — it finally departed the premises.”

Diamond — in C-U since 1967 — is the Voice Behind The Duck, his imaginative online missives quickly gaining a fowl following. His latest dealt with Friday’s Duck Races at ClarkLindsey, where plastic rivals were tossed in the pool as an ineligible Resident Duck looked on, frustrated that “organizers slyly” changed the rules to keep her out. At least she was in attendance: “I was a bit concerned about how I would get into the building, since the door leading to the koi pond is kept locked and, being a bit bird-brained, I never picked up the fob.”

What’s next for Resident Duck? Diamond hopes his best friend flies the coop before temperatures start to drop — no matter how perfect the fit at ClarkLindsey. Until then, he’ll keep writing.

“If this duck doesn’t perfect the art of long-distance flying, it could mean trouble,” Diamond said. “That would be regrettable.”