Alabama

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!

Yesterday's exhibit setup was fun, but indoors. Several people wanted to go on a field trip in spite of the hot weather and the fact they had an opportunity to get their "fossil fix" for the month yesterday. The small group that was able to come on such short notice split into two so that more areas could be scouted. One group in a canoe had lots of good luck with some great finds (seems Vicki had been to this site years ago, and remembered a stash of permineralized wood hidden in a very inaccessible location), while the other group drove off to try and locate additional access points, without success. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. To complete the day properly, some of us went home the long way, via the Wetumpka astrobleme. Another great day in Alabama!

(all photos on this page courtesy Vicki Lais)

Large tree on the shore.

Leisa checking out the clay embankment.

Parts of the shore were very slick clay/chalk material, and was quite colorful in places.

Leisa and Jan searching the opposite shoreline.

Most of the shoreline was quite rocky. Many of these pieces are broken up pieces of permineralized wood, but either lacking detail, or too heavy to lug back up the hill to the cars.

Leisa looking through the 1000's of rocks for that special specimen.

Leisa found some schist, with tiny garnets embedded it it.

David and Becky check out the astrobleme site.

Layers that were heaved into the "wrong" sequence when the meteor hit.

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)

This May found the troops encamped in Lowndes County for a whole weekend of fossils and good company. Tents, camping vans, pop-up trailers all turned out for the great weekend of food, hunting and sleeping out thanks to the generosity of the hunting camp. Our hosts supplied rides out to gullies and a creek on their property via ATV’s and trailers. Even Sylvie made the bumpy ride out to the creek, although some of us did do a quick, quiet poll as to who knew how to deliver a baby or how long it would take to make it to the nearest medical facility, JUST IN CASE she hit one bump too many! We had a great crowd, and some excellent specimens of fossil crabs, shells, ammonites and various teeth were found. After a long day of collecting, we gathered around a roaring fire for a low country shrimp boil and good conversation. Everyone seemed to be demonstrating that everything does taste better outside! Michael and Sylvie had left early, Sylvie declaring that she was now ready to go home and have a baby!

Even the rainstorm that burst on us Sunday morning didn’t dampen spirits. Sleeping with the rain pounding down while you are warm, dry and cozy is one of life’s lovelier experiences! The early risers gathered under one of the many “porch” shelters in the camp and revved up the little propane stoves to make breakfasts of pancakes, cereal, coffee, tea...all the comforts of home, but more fun. Finally, all but the most dedicated decided to call it a day and head home. Nancy left a few of her belongings behind, so Vicki and Martha decided to return them via Selma, wait out the storm and do a little more looking around before heading back.

It was great to see so many of us, old and new members AND guests, turning out for all or most of the weekend. THANK you to our hosts for making us feel so welcome and providing all the facilities. Also thanks to our hosts, and to Shannon and Jim for providing vehicles and trailers, and to Vicki and everybody who helped organize the weekend and the shrimp boil!

This month we were collecting in the Ripley Formation, Cretaceous Period, Maastrichtian Age. According to information published by George Martin, Soil Data Quality Specialist with the USDA, most (if not all) of the crabs found on the trip are Avitelmessus grapsoideus Rathbun, or “Muffin Crabs.” These crabs have been documented from the Ripley Formation in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Along with crabs, members also found numerous teeth, including mosasaur, sawfish, swordfish, and various types of shark teeth. Also found were numerous shells and pieces of ammonite.

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Photos courtesy Jan Novak and Vicki Lais)

A long drive by ATV, then a short hike to the gully.

The gully where we began the day.

Greg has just given instructions on "how to collect in a gully", so everyone is being very cautious and searching carefully.

This is a rather small gully, with very little chance of getting lost here. Gullies in the Ripley are very unusual.

Sometimes it was easier and more productive to just sit in one spot and let one's eyes get accustomed to the patterns.

The gully is littered with numerous pieces of broken shell, nodules and sometimes fish and shark teeth.

Loni's grand-daughter has found a sawfish tooth.

Lea has found the bottom part of a bivalve, possibly exogyra.

Shannon has found a new use for our logo patch - his son John's backpack.

Melanie has found . . . something . . . .

Tooth from a late Cretaceous swordfish, probably Protosphyraena.

Sylvie has found part of a crab leg.

Small fragment of ammonite showing the tell-tale intricately patterned suture marks, which distinguish it from a nautiloid.

Mosasaur tooth.

A variety of shark teeth, and the long upper left one is a swordfish tooth.

After a really hot morning, we returned to camp for lunch and a group picture. Uhh.... where's Claire, did we leave her??

Members spread out to search the creek bottom and banks. Some go upstream, some go downstream.

Nice crab. Note the dark gray clay. It is quite slippery in the creek and along the shore.

Some nice crabs.

An odd round item found by Vicki.

A closer look at the "round thing".

Rychard has found a nice deer skull, recent, not a fossil.

Back in camp, the food fun starts! Members and guests enjoyed a fine low country shrimp boil, with head chef Greg Mestler. Numerous members contributed to its preparation and its disappearing act!

THIS JUST IN ! ! SYLVIE AND MICHAL ARE THE PROUD PARENTS OF ELI MRUG ! Born May 23, 2006.