Field Trip Photos

May 21, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

This month, BPS members headed to Montgomery county to collect in the late Cretaceous. Another beautiful day for being in the woods, and playing in a creek. This year, the creek was down, way down, so moving from shore to shore was much easier than our last trip. A number of nice echinoids and ammonites were found, a variety of shells including gastropods, and a few shark teeth. Most of the ammonites at this site are not collectible due to their fragile nature. Later in the day, members headed south to another creek for more collecting.

A few of the diehards ended up at "The Swamp", a really cool "hamburger joint" on the Alabama river in Selma. The owner is an engineer and designed the building to "float" when the river rises. Normal water level is about 80 feet, and in their 1st year of business it rose to about 120 feet - the restaurant floated!

(Pictures courtesy Dr. Jan Novak and Vicki Lais.)

June 26, 2004 - Late Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

FINALLY, WE NEEDED THAT COMPLETE CHANGE OF CLOTHES
(An Account of Unprecedented Creek Crossings)

BPS members visited a late Cretaceous site in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily echinoids, gastropods, and a few shark teeth. This trip was a real adventure!

A week of daily summer rains and pictures from Friday's site reconnaissance were not enough to daunt those needing a field trip fix. By mid-day Saturday the water had receded enough to give hope to those who had been standing on one bank of the creek and staring longingly at the other bank. There was a spark of hope.

At lunch it was decided that after a trip to a second site that enough time should have passed and the creek could possibly have receded enough to be crossable.

Steve waded the creek with one end of a 60 ft rope in hand. Once tied off on both sides the rope was a sufficient balance for a slow and steady crossing. There were crossers who faced downstream, crossers who faced upstream and those who sidestepped their way across. All present decided to journey to the other side. And by my count - taking the rope and escorting 6 people X two = 22 crossings for Steve.

Flood level water the day before washed out good material for collecting, and yes, we finally needed that change of dry clothes.

--Edited by Vicki Lais

- - "TALES FROM THE PAST" BY JAMES LAMB - -

(Photos by Nancy Kenfield and Vicki Lais)

May 31, 2003 - Cretaceous Fossils, Greene Co, AL

BPS visited a new Cretaceous location in Greene County. First was a very interesting drive and hike through a pasture of high grass. Once we got to the creek, walking was easy, and numerous shark teeth were found in the sand and gravel bars. The creek was very clean, and filled with pea gravel. We found that doing surface searches for fossils was much more productive than screening. The best find of the day was a large mosasaur vertebra. The group did not roam far up or down the creek, as it was so productive right where we started. An opportunity waiting for next time. Afterwards, a couple of members checked out a gully site on the same property, finding numerous oyster shells, then proceeded on to Epes. The white chalk bluffs on the river had called to us for several years, so Leisa took her canoe, and we surveyed some of the closer ones. Later we collected several nice samples of marcasite.

(Photos courtesy Greg Mestler and Vicki Lais.)

September 28, 2002 - Montgomery Co, AL

We visited two late Cretaceous sites in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily shark teeth and echinoids. A surprise awaited - one site we have visited for years used to have a huge sand pile shaped like a mushroom that was filled with shark teeth. The mushroom is no more, and all that is left is a sandpile. Last we heard, the sand was being used in the zoo. You don't want to know any more than that!

(Photos courtesy Brian Ward.)

August 25, 2001 - Colbert Co, AL

BPS members took a long road trip to roadcuts in Colbert County on August 25, where everyone found a good selection of blastoids, brachiopods, trilobites, and other Mississippian age fossils at two separate collecting sites.

Afterwards, we relaxed and cooled off in a creek on some propery owned by one of our members.

Summer, 2001 - Jefferson Co, AL

Several times during the summer, members collected in north Jefferson county, in an area being cleared for a shopping center.

Jefferson

Alabama

Spring, 2001 - Walker Co, AL

BPS took several trips to an abandoned strip mine, where numerous nodules containing fern spore pods were found. This was on a trip with a visiting paleontologist.

Walker

Alabama

May 12, 2001 - Track Meet 3 and PlantFest, Anniston, Alabama

Track Meet III and the concurrent PlantFest was held on May 12, at the Anniston Museum of Natural History. We spent the day documenting especially fine, well-preserved, interesting plant fossil specimens and previously unphotographed tracks collected at the Union Chapel Mine. We were fortunate enough to have 2 visiting paleobotanists at this Meet. Thanks to all of the organizers and participants!!

Calhoun

Alabama

Pennsylvanian

April 29, 2001 - Montgomery Co, AL

BPS members visited two late Cretaceous sites in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily shark teeth and echinoids. A pycnodont tooth (rare in Alabama) was found by Vicki Lais.

In 1999, Ed Hooks of the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, along with David Schwimmer and Dent Williams of Columbus State University, Columbus Georgia, had written an article titled "Synonymy of the Pycnodont Phacodus Punctatus Dixon 1850, and Its Occurrence in the Late Cretaceous of the Southeastern United States". This article was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in September 1999. Earlier, Gordon L. Bell, Jr., one of the founders of BPS, wrote an article titled "A Pycnodont Fish from the Upper Cretaceous in Alabama" (pdf link), which was published in Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 60, Sept 1986.