Visitor
Jefferson
December 16, 2006 - Mississippian & Ordovician Fossils, Jefferson Co, AL
A visit to the quarry at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center and a chance to check on our “pet rock” was the highlight for this December trip. This was a service trip (photos only - no collecting) to Ruffner Mountain Nature Center, and BPS had been asked to make some photographs of fossils the Nature Center could use in their educational activities. A couple of years ago, we etched the surface of a small boulder to make the fossils stand out better. Since this is a rock used by Nature Center as an example on tours, we check periodically to ensure the fossils are still visible and the rock is still usable for their education programs. We examined and photographed the boulder, which contains crinoids, bivalves, bryzoans, and numerous other small fossils, then went on to locate and document as many other fossils as we could find during our day there.
Since the grey-on-grey of the limestone makes it difficult to photograph the details clearly, Chris took multiple photos of the boulder, then used “stitch” photo technology to create detailed photographs of the complete rock surface. By using extreme macro and pasting the sections together, we have gotten far better records of those surfaces and the fossils they contain than with past techniques.
The Ruffner Mountain quarry is a fascinating place to visit and learn more about the Alabama fossil record. BPS is glad that we can contribute to the educational services of the Nature Center by our documentation.
After a late lunch at a locally famous hamburger joint, it was time to head home and get ready to party! All-in-all, a great day, topped off by the annual Xmas party. Good company, good food, Dirty Santa, a lot of laughter, and live music from our very own Lea Novak. It doesn’t get much better than that!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Chris and Vicki Lais)
Part of the group deciding which way to go.
Iron ore spotted on path to quarry.
Mixture of fossils including brachiopods and bryozoans.
Most of the fossils are badly weathered.
Coral.
Large coral in boulder.
Another view of the same coral.
This is very tiny, no more than 1/2 inch across (My apologies for lack of a scale). Dr. Phil Novack-Gottshall says this appears to be a diploporitan, a type of echinoderm .
Taking a break.
This is the rock/boulder that has been etched so that more fossil material is visible.
A closer view.
This odd looking fossil had us speculating, but according to Dr. Phil Novack-Gottshall, it is a crinoid stem with very regular cirri.
A macro view of the unusual crinoid stem.
September 30, 2006 - Paleozoic Fossils and Rocks, Jefferson Co, AL, Part 2
Page 1 - General trip photos
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals (this page)
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals (this page)
The Red Mountain road cut rocks were formed million of years ago when North America was covered by a shallow sea. Fossils from the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian ages are found at this site. Members found a good selection of fossils, including numerous brachiapods, the pygidium of a Llandovacaste birminghamensis trilobite (used in the BPS logo), graptolites, unidentified plant stems, gastropods, a number of trace fossils, and even some nice samples of calcite and dolomite crystals.
(Photos courtesy Chris and Vicki Lais)
And some mineral specimens:
Hematite
White calcite crystals.
Pink calcite (dolomite) crystals.
Page 1 - General trip photos
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals (this page)
September 30, 2006 - Paleozoic Fossils, Jefferson Co, AL
Page 1 - General trip photos (this page)
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals
The BPS September field trip found us at the site of the Red Mountain Road Cut, which is also the site of the former Red Mountain Museum. The fossils that were formerly housed in the RMM now reside in the Alabama Collections Center of McWane Science Center. A good deal of the interpretive work still remains, and several members helped clear vines and bushes that had overgrown the walkway and signs. Jun Ebersole, Collections Manager at the McWane Science Center, started us out with a safety lecture, particularly pointing out areas that were somewhat less secure than others. We were fortunate to have James Lamb along to provide commentary and information regarding the road cut and history of the RMM, along with his wonderful sense of humor. James' lecture was accompanied by an excellent printed handout, covering the geology and history of the road-cut, and pointing out the many fossils which are unique to this site. He pointed out several geologic items of interest such as the fault line, volcanic ash layer, iron ore, and reef formations that make up Red Mountain, as we went on an exploring trip along the exposed area of the cut.
We happily welcomed Eli Mrug, our youngest member of the group on his first BPS field trip with his parents, who were acting as translators for his grandparents who were visiting from the Czech Republic. There was an excellent turnout for this trip of old members, new members, and guests. All-in-all this was BPS at its best and most fun, one of the best trips of the year.
The Red Mountain road cut rocks were formed million of years ago when North America was covered by a shallow sea. Fossils from the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian ages are found at this site. Members found a good selection of fossils, including numerous brachiapods, the pygidium of a Llandovacaste birminghamensis trilobite (used in the BPS logo), graptolites, unidentified plant stems, gastropods, a number of trace fossils, and even some nice samples of calcite and dolomite.
Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Steve Corvin, Chris Lais, and Vicki Lais)
Jun gives a safety lecture regarding dangerous aspects of the cut and walkways to the group.
The whole gang (except Chris, behind the camera).
Amazingly, though Red Mountain Museum has been closed for several years, a number of the signs are still in place, though covered by kudzu and other vines.
There is a lot of rubble against the fence, most filled with bits of fossil material.
Lamb pointing out part of a fossilized patch reef system formed by a bush-like algae . . .
. . . as members listen intently, and start being able to identify various shading in the rocks that denote shells, layer transitions, faults, and other items of geologic interest.
Claire and Melanie searching through a large rubble pile.
Pam and others choose a leisurely way to collect!
Lamb points out volcanic ash (bentonite) from volcanoes which were active in the area approximately 445 million years ago.
Bill with his "rock flipping tool".
A frequent event of the day - Jun, what's this?
Walking along the road cut.
Jun trying to hide after his attempt to put a 15 pound rock in Vicki's fanny pack (while she was wearing it!).
Melanie and Steven examine each rock carefully.
Time to relax with the Birmingham skyline in the background.
Leisa's fossil finds.
If we had given a prize for the people who traveled furtherest to attend the field trip, it would have to go to Sylvie's parents, who came all the way from the Czech Republic. Well, perhaps they really came to visit their new grandson, Eli, but we certainly were glad to have them!
James.... are you SURE we need to climb all the way up there???
A mystery rock. Apparently, one just like it was brought to McWane Center. This one wasn't here in the past, and doesn't appear to have fallen from the top. Anyone know about this rock? Is it a marker of some kind, a hoax?? Send us an email if you can shed light on this mystery.
Page 1 - General trip photos (this page)
Page 2 - Fossils and minerals
August 27, 2006 - Fossil Exhibit Open House, Homewood Library, Jefferson Co, AL
August 27, 2006 brought a reception at the Homewood Library to celebrate our annual exhibit and gave us a chance to meet the public. Channel Six news arrived and gave us excellent coverage, including an interview with Greg. Members set up the reception and provided food and beverages (and fossils to share) and were on hand to meet, greet and answer the many questions that came our way.
The main hall held several exhibit cases filled with Alabama fossils. But what if you want to touch and hold the fossils? So in the auditorium, BPS had two tables covered with fossils that visitors could pick up and examine closely. The scanning microscope proved to be a big hit for the “close examination” part. Plenty of food added to the good time. A great video on view, “The Making of ‘Walking With Dinosaurs” was a big hit. At one point during the day, Greg gathered a crowd around him, and took off for the main exhibit hall, where he did a quick presentation regarding the exhibit. But the biggest hit of all was the sand pile outside which had been liberally salted with Alabama fossils to “discover.” Kids and grown-ups alike dug in and had fun! We were delighted at the crowds who showed up and the interest shown in the paleontology of Alabama. There was a lot of surprise expressed that Alabama has such a wide variety of fossils.
The annual exhibition and reception gives us a great opportunity each year to share our knowledge, collections and enthusiasm with the Birmingham community. Huge thanks are due to the Homewood Library for providing such a wonderful facility and helping make this all possible!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
Setting up the fossil tables and video. Greg (far left) was coordinator of the Exhibit.
Some of the fossils on display.
Visitors examine the fossils.
Carole handled food and publicity for the event, and did a super job! Thanks, Carole ! ! ! Mary Ann and Leisa also donated some home-made goodies - those trilobite cookies and brownies sure went fast, didn't they !
Mary Ann and Carole talking with a visitor.
And they examine the snacks even closer !
More fossils on another table, and a digital microscope to get a close up look at some of the microfossils.
Looking at images under the microscope (shown on the laptop screen).
As interesting as it was inside, the sand pile outside was where the action was! Kids of all ages got to search for their very own fossil in the generously seeded sand box. Fossils from all over Alabama were donated by BPS members for the day's event.
It got even more interesting when Channel 6 news showed up to see what all the fun was about!
Martha, in pink, was coordinator of the sand pile activities.
Young lady showing off her find to Jun and Sandy.
The dinosaur stamps also were a big hit!
July 29, 2006 - Fossil Exhibit, Homewood Library, Jefferson Co, AL
Our annual exhibit in the Ellenburg Art Gallery at the Homewood Public Library is up and looks great!
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
On July 29, members of BPS gathered at the HPL with bones, stones, posters and other materials to set up the exhibition that has become a tradition with the Library. We gathered in the round auditorium and laid out our fossils on paper mock-ups of the display cases.
Once again "Bigbee" is the star of the show on a beautiful custom-made banner, donated by the McWane Science Center.
Hmmm.... Oops... well, we thought it would fit in last year's frame....
The display cases in the main exhibit hall are filled with fossils, all from Alabama. Specimens are organized by era:
Paleozoic Era -
Mesozoic era:
Cenozoic Era:
Hey, guys - what a great space for the new mosasaur banner!
In the main gallery is a collage of BPS field trips over the years.
There are also two wall display cases at the entrance to the main library, one of which shows some of the tools we use in surveying, collecting and preparing the specimens, and another wall display case with a number of items related to the Union Chapel Mine.
Today's worker bees, Bobby, Greg, Claire, Lea, Jan (behind camera), Jim, Mary Ann, Leisa, Vicki, and Michelle. Chris and Joseph left a few minutes earlier to go work their computer tech magic for someone. All of them deserve a great big THANK YOU!
At lunch, the discussion turned to the need some felt to visit the great outdoors again. When?? Well, like, tomorrrow? So a very quickly-organized "Scouting Outing" to Elmore County was arranged for the following day.
June 26, 2004 - Late Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL
FINALLY, WE NEEDED THAT COMPLETE CHANGE OF CLOTHES
(An Account of Unprecedented Creek Crossings)
(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)
February 22, 2004 - Jefferson Co, AL
This month's field trip was a work party to prepare the display stone in the Gate City Quarry for the continuing Ruffner Mountain Nature Center project. After a delightful lunch at the Golden Rule BBQ the BPS had fun hiking in to the quarry via a back way told to us by the RMNC staff and we even met a potential new member on the trail. Once again the weather gods smiled on the BPS - warm and sunny in February.
Some of the new members got a brief tour of the quarry and Nancy got to play with her new photo equipment. The small boulder we had chosen on an earlier trip was re-located and we went to work cleaning and preserving it. The results were better than expected and many more "critters" were found on the stone than expected. However, attempts to do a rubbing of the stone failed due to the texture but Nancy came to the rescue. She took some great photos using her SLR digital camera and by using "PhotoShop" was able to make a virtual rubbing that I think will work better than the real thing. This "rubbing" is to be used in the educational pamphlet for RMNC and being digital, it will be easier to edit. Even though we could not do any collecting for ourselves we did find a few interesting items that could be preserved and put into the RMNC collection along with the display we are building for them. It is fun giving something back to the city that has been the home of BPS for the last 20 years.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Nancy Kenfield and Vicki Lais.)
Everyone trying to make a point. . . .
August 16, 2003 - Rummage Sale, Jefferson Co, AL
The rummage sale went very well, and generated a few hundred dollars for the BPS treasury. Several weeks of preparation was hard work, but the actual day of the sale was a lot of fun. Leisa was able to obtain a location on the main drag through Gardendale, Alabama, so even without any advertising, and in spite of our dragging our feet and sleeping in that morning, we had a lot of business. A BPS educational table was set up, where numerous fossils were displayed, along with books about fossils, field trip photos, and several "give-away" fossil and mineral samples. We passed out numerous BPS flyers and had many opportunities to talk about our favorite subject. One of our customers brought a large piece of petrified wood for our collection, though he did not know its origin. He also makes interesting puzzles, and gave one to Claire (it has to do with balancing 6 nails on top of one nail.) (Sorry there aren't many pictures, we were too busy helping customers and talking about BPS!)
(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)
Greg talking to some of our visitors about BPS and fossil collecting. Several of our better finds were displayed, and there were give-away samples of various types, including ferns, echinoids, shark teeth, and some mineral specimens.
Customers and merchandise.
Another view of customers and merchandise.
Chris and Claire.
Taking a break.