News from the Bernard Field Station

We have a new addition to the BFS Bird List – the Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus. Cathy McFadden and Paul Clarke spotted a Rock Wren in the main east-west road between the lake road and the Botanic Garden greenhouses, but when they tried to capture it on video, it flew into the brush north of […]

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We have four new additions to the BFS plant list. First is Climbing Milkweed, Sarcostemma cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii: Sue Schenk spotted this native twining perennial in the East Field. S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii is a host plant for the Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus). As you might guess from its habit, S. cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii can […]

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Although I normally write a news post for any new additions to the BFS Biota Lists, your busy arthropod researchers – primarily Hartmut Wisch, Harsi Parker, and Jonathan Wright – have gotten ahead of me! Since March we have documented nearly 100 new taxa for the BFS Invertebrate List and added many new photos. Over […]

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Spotted last Sunday on Amsinckia in the East Field, the plant bug Plagiognathus moerens: Plagiognathus moerens is a specialist feeder of Amsinckia and other Boraginaceae. It’s very little studied — the only references in the scientific literature are to the taxonomic description. So far as we can tell, our photos from the BFS are the […]

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During Spring Break Jonathan Wright, Harsi Parker, and I spent an afternoon at the BFS documenting and photographing arthropods. It will take a while to figure out the identity of all the interesting insects we found, but we’ve now idenitified the first two and added them to the BFS Invert List: Zelus renardii – Leafhopper […]

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Although it’s seemed likely that treefrogs would be present at the BFS, we haven’t had any confirmed sightings until now. While monitoring the ‘new’ toad pond at the BFS, Joint Science students Erin Baumler and Maya Higgins and their faculty advisor Marion Preest spotted this Baja California Treefrog, Pseudacris hypochondriaca (formerly Pseudacris regilla), in the […]

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We have another new addition to the BFS Invertebrate List — the Wooly Darkling Beetle, Eleodes osculans. This species was found by Dr. Paul Stapp’s Cal State Fulllerton Mammalogy class, who collected it in their rodent traps. Prof. Stapp adds, “like other tenebrionids, they seem to really like the peanut butter and oats we bait […]

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We have two new additions to the BFS Inverts list: The Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor. The larvae of this striking black and blue iridescent butterfly feed exclusively on Aristolochia species, including “Pipevine” or “Dutchman’s Pipe.” The adults sip nectar from a number of different flowers — this one was seen on Golden Current, Ribes aureum. […]

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…on finding a root of shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) open a seed-vessel. If the seed is yellow you will be rich, but if green you will be poor. Yorkshire Folklore BFS Manager Stephen Dreher has spotted a new addition for the BFS Plant List: Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). Shepherd’s Purse, which originated in the Middle […]

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We have a new addition to the BFS Bird List! On Saturday, November 14, and Monday, November 16, a Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) was seen among the cattails on the south side of pHake Lake. This small, chicken-like shore bird frequents freshwater marshes, where it most often remains hidden in dense vegetation. In spite of […]

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