The Bobcat Ranch Adventure of Section B

ABI 198 - SECTION B 

(04/16/25)

Hey everyone, welcome back to our blog! Today we had an eventful day at Bobcat Ranch with our enthusiastic tour guide Matt. We talked a lot about different species and organisms that inhabit the ranch, some of which hopefully inspired you all to ask questions. 

Our meeting minutes:

(We had an agenda planned for this field trip, but because we were given a tour, we didnt get to execute our agenda, BUT the trip was still a success!)

10:00 Met at the Mann Laboratory parking lot 

10:10 Departed from campus

10:45 Arrived at Bobcat ranch 

10:50-11:00 Introduction to the ranch and tour guide Matt 

When we arrived, our tour guide gave us some background information about the land and gave us some information on the animals found there. He mentioned how birds were an indicator species in this ranch and how important grazing is so native species can regrow. 

11:00-11:45 Hiked up some hills 

11:45-12:10 We explored the creek 

12:15- 1:25 We began the trip back to the vans 

1:25 Departed from Bobcat Ranch and headed back to campus 

2:05 Arrived back on Campus 

Pictures from Bobcat Ranch:

    Holes a woodpecker pecked on a tree 

-These holes provide homes for insects 

Lupine flower 

-coevolved with bees!

Ithuriel's Spear 

You can eat this flower, and it tastes like arugula

(These flowers were most likely planted by a native american tribe)

A lizard sunbathing by the creek

Possible bobcat feces 

Cattle drink this water while they are grazing the grass 

This water is also used by mallards and other wildlife!

The ONLY two Quercus Lobata trees on Bobcat Ranch

-They are given this name because their leaves are lobed

Blue oak tree growing out of a dead tree 

 Heartleaf Milkweed 

-Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves of these plants 

Agenda for Friday 

12:10 Meet in Briggs classroom 

12:15- 12:40 introduce & do presentations (2-5 minutes) 

12:40 Class will vote to decide 4 main topics 

12:50 Break off into the 4 chosen groups 

12:50-1:30 Discuss topics among groups and start working on presentation/ doing research 

1:30-2:00 Each group shares core ideas with the whole classroom (so we know what each group will be looking into for the next week)

Reminders: Everyone has been doing a great job staying on top of the weekly reflections. Let's not forget to do those this week! p.s. Don't forget to turn in the R homework, which is due Friday evening.

Tasks to do before Friday's class:

Submit an idea to the "proposal idea prompt" and come to class ready to give a brief presentation (about 3-5 sentences long) on your topic and why it is important to study. During Friday's class, we will go around the room sharing our ideas with the class. This process will make it easier to notice any trends in topics and divide us into four main groups!