BPS participated in the National Fossil Day exhibit on the campus of the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa.

How many attendees does it take to make a great field trip?  Today, the answer was four!  Maybe it was the cold weather or maybe it was schedule conflicts but, for the folks who came to Chilton County for the field trip, it was very pleasant!

The water in the creek was a little high and was a LOT COLD but that didn’t stop the BPS members who wanted to look for petrified and permineralized wood specimens.  The summer drought has kept several sites from the usual surface material turnover so the larger specimens of petrified wood were not evident.  Smaller samples were plentiful and the colors and visible petrified wood grain that were seen were beautiful, as usual.  Two spectacular Native American artifacts were found as well. 

Some interesting local fauna was seen:  a busy beaver (seemingly unconcerned by our presence), a pair of racing kingfishers, following the creek and chattering loudly, and a small flock of guinea fowl by the fishing lake.  There were tiny minnows in the creek – wonder how they feel about the temperature change?? In spite of the cooler temps, their location is one of the best.  We were fortunate to share their space for the day!! 

The teacher workshop was held at the University of West Alabama in Livingston this year due to weather issues.  It was taught by professors from the University of West Alabama and geologists from the Geological Survey of Alabama.  There was a full classroom of students, including several BPS members who attended as students.  Other BPS members provided assistance in the workshop and behind the scenes with food preparation and clean-up, and also set up the BPS traveling fossil display. 

Although the attendees were confined indoors due to an all-day rain, buckets of material from a Bashi site that is no longer available were provided by one of the instructors. It was chock full of tiny, almost perfect fossils. One of the workshop tasks was for the students to research available fossil documentation to identify their specimens.  Students were very engaged and actively involved in the lab project, and no one had to get muddy boots.  After the classroom activities were completed, most of the group left to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Black Belt Museum. 
 

On Saturday, September 28, a sizable group of BPS members and guests got together to take advantage of the unseasonably hot weather to visit a favorite creek in Perry County.  After a stop at a local burger restaurant that served very tasty biscuits, we caravanned to the site – off-roading a little bit at the end.  The dry weather was definitely in our favor there! 

This particular creek has historically been loaded with fossils but, due to the recent drought, was a little less forthcoming with fossil finds.  Not to be daunted by the circumstances, the trip attendees found deeper water gravel or searched shallower areas for things that might have been previously missed.  And, that diligence paid off!  Among the finds were 2 (!!) Cretoxyrhina mantelli teeth, other varieties of shark teeth, Ptychodus teeth, oyster shells, a turtle flipper bone, Baculites segments and even some Native American artifacts.  This creek always delivers, even after heavy collecting and little material turnover.  No wonder it’s a favorite location!   
 

On Saturday, July 27, 2019, a much-anticipated field trip took place.  A good sized group of BPS members and guests met at a pre-determined spot in Sumter County and then caravanned to a lovely Cretaceous chalk gully site that has not been surveyed for several years.  Because of a tightly-strung barb wire fence, James made a lovely pair of steps (stiles) for getting the group up and over.  There was reference made to accessing the gullies “in STYLE”.  Funny but not quite time to give up your day job. 

Once in the gullies, searchers immediately found mosasaur and shark teeth, turtle bones, fish bones, clam and crab pieces, shrimp burrows, Hamulus tubes, shark, fish and mosasaur vertebra, and more.  One member found complete turtle skull which James collected for reconstruction.  In another area, James found several pieces of mosasaur bone, jaw and teeth fragments as they were being revealed through the chalk erosion.  There were many interesting fossils (and some non-fossils) found while attendees were searching the gullies.  The heat was a factor, as it usually is in chalk gullies in the summer, but everyone took breaks and kept hydrated so everyone stayed safe and had fun.  Again, I am deeply appreciative of the owners who allowed us access to their property.  I hope I speak for everyone  when I say it was a great day. 

On Saturday, June 15, 2019, a group of BPS members and guests met at a pre-determined meeting spot for a visit/pit stop/supply gather before heading to the field trip destination.  The weather was warm but with slightly lower humidity which was much appreciated.  After a short drive to the site and a short hike to the gullies, James gathered everyone for an informative talk about the age, formation and fossils in the gullies, as well as some collecting etiquette. 

Fossil collectors spread out across the gullies in hopes of findings nice specimens but the gullies weren’t revealing many finds on this day.  Still, not a total shut out, though, with shark teeth, enchodus teeth, fish vertebra, Hamulus tubes, turtle bones, Inoceramus clam fragments, shrimp burrows and other fossils being found.  James checked on some of his previously tagged finds and reinforced them for stability where needed. 

At noon, the group went to the shed for lunch.  It’s always very comfortable there with shade and usually a fresh breeze – just what is needed to recharge the biological batteries!  At that point, too, everyone has an opportunity to compare fossil finds and have them identified.  Then, after a pleasant break, it’s time to move to the second part of the day – the creek!

Just a short drive away, there’s a lovely, shady creek with Cretaceous fossils that are slightly older than the fossils found in the chalk gullies we’d just visited.  There are usually gravel bars by the creek access point but the ever-flowing water moved the gravel from the usual places.  James hiked overland to find a sizable gravel bar for the group to screen.  Everyone was able to find very nice shark teeth as well as gastropod casts, ammonite and baculite segment casts and other fossil and non-fossil pieces.  It is a special place and will remain one of my favorite trips.     
 

Weekend trip to a creek in Butler county, Alabama, with several members camping out for the long holiday.

On a very pretty March 30, 2019, a great group of BPS members and guests met at a predetermined spot in Chilton County before a much-needed field trip.  On a scouting outing several weeks before, the scouting party ran in to a very chatty and generous landowner.  During a pleasant conversation, permission was granted for the group to access his lovely, winding, gravelly creek.  On the day of the field trip, the temperature had gone up and the water level had gone down, making creek access not only possible but nearly enjoyable. 

The wide gravel bars were covered with small pieces of beautiful permineralized wood.  On some, the colors were spectacular but without much detail while others had nice, identifiable wood grain still visible.  The majority of pieces were under two or three inches but some very large pieces were found by members wading in deeper parts of the creek.  At some point, (not while we were there), a 12-foot permineralized log and a smaller (5’) log was recovered.  Goals!!

It’s usually found that time on the water really builds an appetite and this was no exception.  A little after mid-day, a lunch break was called and the group set off to the nearby small town where there was a tasty Mexican restaurant.  Lunch and conversation were great, as was the trip and day!     

On Saturday, March 2, 2019, numerous BPS members and guests traveled through the pouring rain to a fairly close limestone quarry to look for fossils.  The rain stopped by the time we reached the rendezvous location but the temperature began to rapidly drop.  That did not deter any of the fossil enthusiasts nor did it deter our hosts, thankfully!

After a brief lecture in safety and collection from the quarry host, we headed out.  The way to the collection site was slick and muddy but no one got stuck.  We parked in the mud, gathered our tools and headed to the spoil piles to find fossils.  And, as usual, we were not disappointed.  This site has plentiful Mississippian fossils – crinoids, blastoids, bryozoans, brachiopods, and horn corals.  Not so plentiful but also present were several genera of shark teeth.  We all had our strategies planned for finding the elusive shark teeth; some even proved successful.  The quarry chaperones again found nice two Petalodus teeth and maybe more than one BPS member found shark teeth also.  And, as an addendum to last year’s trip report, the large, museum-quality slab was collected and moved to the educational building for sharing – well done!!

At about 2:00, we called a halt to the collecting in order to give the indulgent quarry chaperones the rest of their Saturday.  A handful of collectors reconvened at the nearby (still colorful) Mexican restaurant for refueling and good conversation before the trip home.  This site is so very fun and lucrative for collecting.  I know I’ll look forward to the next visit!

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 was an absolutely PERFECT day for a field trip!  There were 14 BPS members and guests who got together to spend a much-needed day in the great outdoors looking for fossils.  The general area was a lakeshore in Franklin County (lower Bangor limestone formation) and our leaders selected 3 sites from which to collect.  The first site, a public boat launch, was fairly void of fossils (except for a nice shark tooth in limestone matrix) but we had heard that the area had been over-collected recently so it was not unexpected.  Even with slim fossil findings, the beautiful very spring-like weather had everyone enjoying the hunt. 

It was decided to relocate to the site we collected last year so we all packed up and headed over.  Thanks to expert navigation by Bob, we made it to the next site quickly and without a hitch – good job, Bob!!  And this site proved to be as productive as it was last year.  The shore consists of fossil slabs and loose fossils that had washed out of the matrix.  Copious crinoid components, bryozoan components, horn corals, bivalves, brachiopods, and blastoids were all found while at this site.  A non-fossil but interesting find was a pharyngeal dental plate from a freshwater drum fish.  It was very pleasant to sit in the warm sun, with the fresh breeze, sifting and searching the washed-out fossils along the shoreline. 

Some called it a great day after this but the remainder of the group ventured on to a road cut several miles away.  Still in the Mississippian strata, we found a few blastoids, a brachiopods and even a couple of trilobites or, rather, the infamous “trilo-butts”.  One specimen was very nice, being in pristine shape as if newly exposed.  By this time, the sun was beginning to set so the remainder of the group wrapped up the hunt and bid the fossil hunt good day.  There’s a great Mexican restaurant on Hwy 157 that is convenient to the interstate so the last of the Mohicans stopped there for good food and conversation before heading the rest of the way home.  What a great day!