Some of the notable species found in this 
• several ferns 
Polypody 
Maidenhair Fern 
Christmas Fern 
Leathery Grape Fern 
Shining Clubmoss 
Smaller Purple Fringed Orchis 
Turtlehead 
Pileated Woodpecker 
Red-shouldered Hawk 
Winter Wren 
Brown Creeper 
Hermit Thrush 
Cape May Warbler 
Golden-crowned Kinglet 
study include: 
Polypodium vulgare 
Adiantum pedatum 
Polystichum acrostichoides 
Botrychium multifidum 
Lycopodium lucidulum 
Habenaria psycodes 
Chelone glabra 
Dryocopus pilealus 
Buteo linealus 
Troglodytes troglodytes 
Certhia americana 
Catharus guttatus 
Dendroica tigrina 
Regulus satrapa 
After an extensive review and discussion process, the recommendation to designate 
approximately 10% of Limerick Forest as Old Growth was approved in principle in 
October 2005. 
On May 7, 2005, an Ottawa Field-Naturalists Club outing introduced 15 members to 
Limerick Forest and to an old growth stand near North Augusta. The destination 
was a conifer stand over 110 years in age, containing White Cedar (Thuja 
occidentals) and Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), which had been assessed as “quality 
1” potential old growth. 
Typical old growth forests contain: 
• large, old trees 
• abundant slow-growing species (such as lichens, mosses, and fungi) which 
indicate a lack of disturbance 
• abundant dead trees, cavity trees, and fallen logs (which are good for 
woodpeckers, cavity nesters, den users, and salamanders) 
• other species of plants and animals which need the above features. 
On the field trip we saw all of these features, plus we saw and/or heard: 
Red-shouldered Hawk (on its nest) Buteo lineatus 
Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus 
Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius 
Brown Creeper Certhia americana 
Red-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta canadensis 
One of the participants found an owl pellet containing a Muskrat (Ondatra 
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