Ammonite in matrix.
shells
June 23, 2007 - Eocene Fossils, Covington Co, AL
The weather was unbearably hot for this June BPS trip to a river in Covington County. Maybe it was the heat, but we had a smaller than normal turnout. The water at this Eocene age site was extremely low, and our usual collecting-holes were sometimes totally flushed clean, and sometimes filled with silt. Very odd. However, we still found some nice specimens and quite a bit of petrified wood, including what appears to be a seed pod. The group scattered along the riverbank and settled down in their chosen collecting spots, making life a little hard on the photographer, but we still got some nice pictures.
Unlike previous years, we were the only collectors that day. It appeared that some "cleanup" work had been done along the riverbank, because it was smooth and un-marred by the holes and trenches dug by commercial collectors in previous years. The landowner asked that we DO NOT DIG at this site, and hopefully, the word has gotten around (BPS never dug here, anyhow). Screening is ok, but NOT digging holes in the banks. Since a number of our members have been appalled in the past at what appeared to be irresponsible digging by people who didn't even know they needed permission to collect here, this was welcome news.
We found ray teeth, shark teeth, sting-ray spines, brachiopods, drumfish mouth plates, and some mystery pieces. Stay tuned! The river was a wonderful place to cool off on such a hot day, so BPSer's took full advantage. Several members camped out overnight (thanks for the A/C, Leisa!), and broke out the canoes the next day in hopes of spotting some more collecting areas. We found some shark and ray teeth, a live turtle badly wanting out of the hole it had fallen into, and had a very pleasant trip UP the river, but did not find the treasure hole we were seeking. So, obviously, we have to go hunting again, right guys?
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)
The group picture, hey, what can I say? We were late, hot, and hungry!
Very low water level today.
Members hunting for the best collecting spots - the river is quite shallow here.
Jan found several pieces of petrified/ permineralized wood, and what appears to be a nice seed pod.
Jan heading downstream, surveying areas that are normally covered with water.
Sample of the fossils found at this site.
Drumfish mouth plate.
The river is low enough to expose this small waterfall, where, rumor has it, Claire and Becky engaged in a water battle.
Good view of the seed found by Jan.
Wood found by Jan.
That evening at camp, we spread out our finds for the day.
June 24, 2006 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery and Elmore Co, AL
A relatively small group of BPS members went to a creek in Montgomery County for today's trip - could it be some people were scared off by the thoughts of 95 degree weather in the sweltering sun? To get an idea of our weather, go to your bathroom, turn the shower on the hottest it will go, close the door so steam can build up, turn off the A/C, then take your laptop in there and view our trip photos - you will have a good idea of our day! Leisa brought her canoe, and she and Claire floated/pushed/dragged it upstream and then back down. This late Cretaceous site once again yielded numerous echinoids and ammonites, though most of the ammonites could only be "collected" via photos, due to their fragile composition. We also found huge quantities of shells, a few shark teeth, a couple of mosasaur vertebra, two large vertebra, possibly shark, and pyritized coprolites.
Several people decided to call it a day after getting too hot for comfort. After a refreshing afternoon lunch in an air conditioned restaurant, the die-hards brains began coming up with another potential collecting site in Elmore county. Since we have a canoe, lets go look for petrified wood. Now understand, we had one canoe, one paddle, 3 life jackets and 4 people to go on this escapade. After a quick stop at the local discount store for an additional paddle and PDF, we scouted access points. The put-in we decided on was steep. Really steep. Really really steep. But we finally got it down the several hundred feet to the water, only to find a boat wasn't necessary, the water was low, the shore was easily walkable, and petrified wood was everywhere. So we collected it (ask Jan how much his pack weighed!), took some pictures of a tree that was about 4 feet in diameter, and noticed it was getting darker. And windy. And there was thunder. And lightning. And lots of cold rain (boy, did it feel good!) And we had the canoe at the bottom of a huge hill. But Leisa, resourceful as ever, had a plan; just hook the boat to her van, and pull it out.
(photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
ammonite
echinoids
Shells and echinoids in matrix. These rocks are pretty hard, so these were left in place.
gastropod
Melanie found a nice gastropod in the same area where the tiny shark teeth were found.
permineralized wood
Tree trunk breaking into pieces on the bank. Numerous pieces like this were scattered everywhere.
ammonite
An ammonite impression in the matrix.
permineralized wood
Forget that, look at the size of that permineralized tree trunk!
Worm burrows and shell impression.
First we need the canoe way down the bluff to the river bank so we can paddle downstream. Well, now wait a minute. This river has always been much higher, all the way into the weeds, and you couldn't walk here, summer nor winter. What's going on here? We don't need the canoe after all!
echinoid
Echinoids in matrix.
shark tooth
Several tiny shark teeth were found.
Melanie is examining her latest find. She found quite a few tiny shark teeth in this area.
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October 23, 2004 - Cretaceous Fossils, Tuscaloosa and Hale Co, AL
October saw the troops headed to Hale county, AL to a favorite creek. After meeting at a rest area, we headed South to Tuscaloosa where we made a stop at the Museum of Natural History on the University campus. Great fossil collections as well as a fun exhibit of bugs and bats caught everybody's interest. We were delighted to see that the Mosasaur is still on display. Stopping at the museum gave us a chance to get a visual fix on what we might find during the day, so it was a nice start for the day.
The creek was higher than expected when we got there, and it became clear that wading (sometimes in some over-the-knees water) would be on the menu. Part of our group chose to sift from a bank while standing in knee deep to thigh deep water while the other part of our group headed downstream. The downstream group discovered that mother nature's engineers had built a very nice dam, thus explaining the high water level. Below the dam sifting was very easy.
This creek runs through the Mooreville Chalk, producing mostly shells, bones, shark and mosasaur teeth. Numerous shark-teeth were found, also several ptychodus teeth, LOTS of fossil clam shells and exogyra, a few fish vertebra, bivalve steinkerns, and several gastropod steinkerns.
Almost everyone had a sieve of some kind. Only one of us managed to get completely dunked but claimed it was a refreshing experience! See, kids, we aren't kidding about bringing a change of clothing! You NEVER KNOW!
Some brave souls tested out MRE's at lunch. Interesting. Our fighting folk have our deepest sympathies! Actually they weren't that bad.
A long day was capped off by chowing down at a great local barbecue place! All in all, a fun and productive trip!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
First stop was the Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa. Thousands of fossils, but none we could collect! We were pleased to find the large mosasaur specimen was still being exhibited.
Steve, Lea, and Glyn screening the gravel.
One of Nancy's screening efforts. Several large exogyra.
One of Steve's hauls, note the shells and partial ammonite.
Shark and ptychodus teeth found by Steve.
Jan, Claire, & Leisa.
View up the creek.
At the end of a beautiful day, we had several show-and-tell displays.
Greg's display.
Lea's finds, note the mosasaur jawbone in lower right corner.
Paige's display. She wanted to find enough shark teeth to share with her classmates, and she certainly accomplished her goal!
35 shark teeth found!
Vicki's finds.
April 19, 2003 - Butler Co, AL
BPS visited a new location in Butler County this month for our field trip. The creek was shallow, making screening and hiking in the creek particularly easy. A number of shark teeth were found, including Odontipus robusta, scapanorhynchus and odontaspis elegans, and bones and teeth that we really wanted to pass off as fossils. Unfortunately, they were recent, from the wild pigs that roam on the property. On the ridge above the creek was a "bald" area composed of limestone where a number of nautiloids (Centroceras marcellensis), gastropods (Lophospira milleri), sea biscuits (Clypeater rogersi), conglomerate material containing numerous Turritella, oyster and other shells were found. We hope to go back to a different site on this same property later in the summer when the roads and creek are drier.
(Photos courtesy Ron Beerman & Greg Mestler.)
A nice gastropod found on the "bald" hilltop.
February 16, 2003 - Pickens Co, AL
The BPS trip this month was to Pickens County, AL, where the group collected from the Selma Chalk formation at several new locations. A new member found her first ever shark tooth in the washes where we were collecting. There is a lot of history in this area that most people in Alabama are not aware of. One of the more unusual stops was to view the "face" etched into the courthouse window in Carrollton, Alabama.
(Photo courtesy Greg Mestler.)
June 15, 2001 - New Hanover Co, NC
This month BPS members took a long weekend, from June 15-17, driving to several quarries near Wilmington, North Carolina where Ashley had made arrangements to collect. There were numerous shells found at these sites, many in almost perfect condition. If one didn't know better, they could be mistaken for recent material.
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
Pectins in matrix found in one of the quarries.