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Volunteers help with arthropod monitoring
BFS Director Marty Meyer is initiating an arthropod monitoring program at the BFS, and this past Saturday, volunteers helped get the program underway by installing permanent sleeves for pitfall traps...
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Getting ready for the new semester
Spring semester classes started this week, and last Saturday’s volunteer day was devoted to clearing overgrown brush and cleaning up around the outdoor classroom, which will be heavily used this...
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Good-bye chicken wire
During its early years, the Bernard Field Station was home to a raptor rehabilitation program, and several structures from that program remain at the field station. Among these is a large flight cage,...
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Sneaky Sahara Mustard
Last year we spotted the very nasty Sahara Mustard (Brassica tournefortii) in the Foothill Blvd parkway at the BFS. We have been keeping our eyes out for any that might spring up this year, but we...
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Italian Thistles redux
Spring at the BFS means that our volunteers return to managing invasive annual weeds, and this past Saturday, the volunteers removed Italian Thistles (Carduus pycnocephalus) from the entry drive and...
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Italian Thistles continued…
The past Saturday volunteers continued the war on Italian Thistles (Carduus pycnocepalus) in a clearing off the trail on the east side of pHake Lake. In the past this area had a fine stand to Italian...
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Mustard and thistle removal continues…
Last Saturday volunteers continued our campaign to control invasive annual weeds, starting with a newly discovered patch of Sahara Mustard (Brassica tournefortii) growing behind the old infirmary....
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Transformation of the toad pond mound
Some time in the past, perhaps in the early 1970s, a very large mound of dirt was dumped on what is now the southwestern portion of the BFS in preparation for a development that never happened. Because...
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Adieu, Italian Thistles
At the May 4 workday volunteers continued removing Italian Thistles from the west side of the lake berm and the area surrounding the “toad pond mound”. This was our last Italian Thistle removal for the...
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Star-thistle time again
It’s now that time of year when the Italian Thistles (Carduus pycnocephalus) have gone to seed, so the volunteers have turned their attention to Maltese Star Thistles (Centaurea melitensis, aka...
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Star Thistle finale
This academic year’s last two volunteer workdays on June 1 and 15 were devoted to finishing off the Maltese Star Thistles (Centaurea melitensis aka Tocalote). As previously discussed, Maltese Star...
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Volunteer workdays resume with brush clearing
BFS volunteer workdays resumed last Saturday, when the volunteer crew cleared brush around the old infirmary as to reduce the fire hazard. The very dry year (2013 precipitation so far is less than half...
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Oct. 5 workday canceled!
Because of very low humidity and strong Santa Ana winds, the National Weather Service has issued a “Red Flag Warning” for extreme fire danger for LA County and surrounding regions. We have consequently...
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Cutting back Cattails
Conjure up a mental image of pHake Lake, and what do you see? Cattails! As shown nicely in the title image for this blog, a ring of Broad-leaved Cattails (Typha latifolia) almost completely encircles...
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Removing non-native plants in the ‘Neck’
Because the BFS ‘Neck’ is long and skinny, with a lot of “edge” relative to its area, non-native ornamental plants have entered the Neck from adjacent yards, and at last Saturday’s workday, volunteers...
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Fall volunteer workdays end on a cold and wet but successful note
The weather didn’t cooperate for our last fall volunteer workday on December 7. The temperature was in the low 40s, and just at 10 a.m. when the workday was beginning, it started raining and didn’t...
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Clearing the lake trail
At the BFS Saturday workdays, volunteers not only improve habitat but also maintain and improve usability for students and researchers. For example, our first two workdays of the spring semester were...
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Will removing exotic grass help native plants re-establish in the burn area?
New vegetation is coming up in the that area burned last September in the Foothill Fire. Part of the burn area is in the east field, which was once cleared and was covered with a mixture of non-native...
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Fall volunteer workdays begin with a splash – literally!
BFS 2014-2015 Volunteer Workdays started with a splash, as volunteers plunged into pHake Lake to cut back cattails around the boat landing area. Here you can see some of them at work: Samar El-Abdallah...
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Cattail cutting continues…
September 20 was another wet volunteer workday as cattail clearing continued. Students from Citrus College, Harvey Mudd College, and the University of California Riverside together with community...
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