Pilling's Pond is a privately owned urban

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

reserve and breeding ground in the North

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

neighborhood of

Licton Springs, Seattle Licton Springs or North College Park is a neighborhood in the informal Northgate district of North Seattle. It is bounded by Interstate 5 to the east, beyond which is Maple Leaf neighborhood and the Northgate Mall; Aurora Avenue N ( SR 99) to th ...

, Washington. It was created by lifetime resident Charles A. Pilling and has been a bird breeding site and a

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than actually being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboards. T ...

since the 1920s.

History

In the 1880s, a member of the Denny family built a house on North 90th Street and Densmore Avenue North in Seattle. James and Marietta Pilling purchased the property in 1909, and converted it to a dairy farm. In 1924, their twelve-year-old son Charles A. Pilling (October 6, 1911 – October 24, 2001) dug a small pond to care for three injured mallard ducks he had been given. This began Pilling's lifelong interest in breeding waterfowl. Over the years, the size of the pond was expanded to on the half-acre lot. It was fed fresh water by diverting Licton Springs. It is bordered by

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

stands, and yet with a viewing area on North 90th Street, it still remains part of Seattle's urban landscape. In the 1950s Pilling created a manually operated flood control system that was still in use in 2011.
“Charles Pilling, renowned bird breeder, left a legacy” by Duff Wilson, The Seattle Times, October 29, 2001 Pilling gained international fame when in 1955 the International Wild Waterfowl Association (IWWA) recognized him as the first to breed the

hooded merganser The hooded merganser (''Lophodytes cucullatus'') is a species of merganser. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Lophodytes''. The genus name derives from the Greek language: ''lophos'' meaning 'crest', and ''dutes'' meaning 'diver'. The ...

in captivity. He received the female merganser as an injured duck, nursed her to health and then found a male partner for her. This was followed by similar awards in 1964 for the bufflehead and in 1977 for being first to breed the harlequin duck. He received the Grand Master Breeder Award from the American Game Bird Breeders Cooperative Federation. Charles Pilling's most prestigious award was induction into the IWWA's Hall of Fame. "In 1990, he was the fourth person ever to be inducted into IWWA's Waterfowl Breeders Hall of Fame, an award that he and his wife, June, traveled to Nova Scotia to accept." All of these achievements occurred while managing the activity on Pilling's Pond. As Pilling became well known in the bird breeding community, he was sought out as a mentor. In 1972, Paul Dye moved to Seattle for the purpose of learning the art and craft of bird breeding from the master. Pilling mentored Dye, and Dye went on to establish his own duck reserve near

Lake Stevens, Washington Lake Stevens is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States, that is named for the lake it surrounds. It is located east of Everett and borders the cities of Marysville to the northwest and Snohomish to the south. The city's popula ...

, known as Northwest Waterfowl Farm. In May 2001,

Seattle Community Access Network Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) is one of the Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable television channels in Seattle, Washington. The station provides camera equipment, television studios and training that allow residents ...

(SCAN) produced a documentary video about Pilling's Pond. It shows green-winged teals, blue-winged teals, wood ducks, mandarins, hooded mergansers, red heads, goldeneye, buffleheads, ring-necks, and northern shovelers, as well as some exotic Siberian geese, black-necked swans and Australian black swans. The pond has been home to over 100 waterfowl in its peak Autumn season. Interviews with Pilling, biologists Peter Lortz and Ellie Cauldwell, and other local pond experts, are also presented in the documentary. In October 2001, Chuck Pilling died at 90 years of age. In 2005, David Kunkle, a long-time neighbor, purchased the property with the intention of preserving the pond's legacy. Since then, family members and neighbors, organized under the non-profit corporation, Pilling's Pond Preservation Society, have maintained the pond and have continued to preserve it as an educational resource, with the support of Puget Consumers Coop, who for over a decade has donated lettuce trimmings as a healthy staple diet for the birds.''"What's new at Pilling's Pond?"'' by Mike Bonn, Licton Springs Currents, Summer 2004 "We set about to honor in-kind donors who provide food for the ducks. This included an award ceremony on June 5, 2004 for the Greenlake PCC. For about 10 years, they have been providing lettuce trimmings that have become a staple for the waterfowl. They were honored with a plaque of pictures from the representatives of the Pilling family, Licton Springs Community Council, Pilling's Pond Preservation Society and active neighbors". Pilling's Pond as a non-commercial enterprise continues as a historical and educational resource for the Licton Springs neighborhood.

Notes

References

* "Rare birds win world renown" by Dick Lilly, The Seattle Times, February 16, 1990 * "Group signs agreement to purchase historic Pilling's Pond" by James Bush, Seattle Sun, February 2003 * "On Pilling's Pond" by Calin Taylor, ''

Seattle Magazine Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of N ...

'', May 2004
"Preserving a Pilling's Pond Legacy"
by Julie Reinhardt, The Seattle Press, May 9–22, 2002
"Charles Pilling dies within sight of his beloved pond"
by Ruth Teichroeb, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 29, 2001
"Licton Springs, Environmental riches at heart of historic area"
by Michael Barber, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 1, 1998

by Wanda Fullner, Licton Springs Currents, Spring 2002
"Residents seek way for area to endure -- Licton Springs eternal"
by Gordy Holt, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 13, 1998
Chuck Pilling's Pond: A Seattle Legacy
- YouTube, documentary by John Brunner {{coord, 47, 41, 40, N, 122, 20, 17, W, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:US-WA Geography of Seattle Tourist attractions in Seattle 1924 establishments in Washington (state)