Fernhill is a great place to see the connections between water, plants, birds and wildlife. The diversity of native plants at Fernhill provide long-lasting benefits for aquatic invertebrates, pollinators, amphibians and reptiles, waterbirds, songbirds and raptors, and mammals. Learn more about the birds of Fernhill.
Wildlife
Below are some examples of wildlife you might see (or see signs of) at Fernhill. Learn more about Pacific northwest species and their habitats from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Reptiles
Amphibians
Native
Rough-skinned Newt
Long-toed Salamander
Pacific chorus Frog/Pacific tree Frog
Red-legged Frog
Non-native & Invasive
Bullfrog
Native
Garter Snakes
Turtles: Western Pond and Western Painted (both in decline)
Non-native & Invasive
Snapping Turtle
Red-eared Slider
Fish
Mammals
Native
Brown Bat
Black-tailed deer
Weasel
Striped Skunk
River Otter
Common Raccoon
Brush Rabbit
American Beaver
Common Muskrat
Ground Squirrel
Tree Squirrel
Townsend’s Mole
Coyote
Bobcat
Non-native & Invasive
Nutria (South America)
Non-native & Invasive
Mosquito fish
Bullhead Catfish
Carp
*Salmon, trout and other migratory fish are not present at Fernhill. Fish that do find their way to Fernhill, are washed in by Tualatin River flood waters.
Native plants
Key to the water quality treatment functions of natural treatment systems (NTS) is the capacity of native wetland plants to filter and absorb nutrients. Vast plantings of emergent and open water wetland species along with native trees and shrubs add species and structural diversity. See how plants support our treatment as water is transferred to the atmosphere by evaporation and from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants. Below are species you'll see along the trails and in the Water Garden as well as in the NTS.
Shrubs
Trees
Native
Douglas Fir
Oregon Ash
Large leaf Maple
Western Red-Cedar
Cottonwood (Black)
Cascara
Pacific Dogwood
Oregon oak
Pine (Shore, Ponderosa)
Native
Oregon Grape
Willow (Geyer, Pacific, Scouler’s, Sitka)
Pacific Ninebark
Vine Maple
Indian Plum
Elderberry (Red and Blue)
Thimbleberry
Snowberry
Salmonberry
Serviceberry
Red-flowering Currant
Mock Orange
Oceanspray
Chokecherry
Nootka Rose
Douglas Spirea
Red-twig Dogwood/Red-osier Dogwood
Twinberry
Herbaceous
Forbes
Fern
Native
Aquatic Emergents: Sedges, Rushes, Hard-stem Bullrush, Common Tule
Native
Yarrow
Camas
Wapato
Yellow Violet
Oregon Sunshine
Douglas Aster
Milkweed
Lupine
Native
Sword
Licorice
Deer
Maidenhair