Montgomery

May 19, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

Another hot day found the troops begging for a "water field trip" so we could cool off. We had mixed feelings about what we saw when we got there and found that drought conditions had virtually dried up the creek-bed. On the other hand, a good deal more fossils were exposed. This is our favorite spot for collecting echinoids and viewing too-fragile-to-collect ammonites. A few ammonites were retrieved, echinoids, cretaceous wood, worm tubes and a few shark teeth and numerous shells were found, and Becky found a turtle bone. With the exposure of the creek-bed, we could see near-perfect circular holes in the rock where the last bits of the ammonite fossils had washed away over time. In spite of the heat, we all found some nice fossils (or drooled over other people's fossils!), and had a chance to get a good look at the underlying rock formations. Our finds made all participants feel the day was truly worth it, including the largest shark tooth that this group has seen at this site, two very large shark vertebra, an unusual looking pycnodont fish tooth, and what might be a plesiosaur bone. Then off for some dinner at a wonderful BBQ restaurant where all expressed delight with the trip and made our plans for future visits.

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Pictures courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)

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)

August 20, 2005 - Eocene Fossils, Covington and Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

What a hot, humid day this was! According to weather reports, the temperature hit 97 where we were collecting, and there was virtually no shade. The first site we visited in Covington county was a real dud, for multiple reasons. We knew there would be a "constant steady discharge" due to some future plans at the dam. However, we didn't anticipate this discharge would raise the water level 3-4 feet above normal! This meant our normal collecting areas were underwater, way underwater, and we weren't prepared to scuba dive. We spent a short period of time collecting the few shells, teeth, and horned coral found in the banks, and getting hot and sweaty, then left early for our second site in Montgomery county. Much better collecting at this site! Members found a good number of shark teeth, ptychoda teeth, ammonites, and two unique finds, part of a turtle, and another item that we haven't seen from this site before, which is still being identified. According to Vice President Greg Mestler, in the late 1980's on another BPS field trip to this site, he found mosasaur skull bones in the same area where we found the turtle. Hmmmm.......

Once again, the group ended the day with a fine opportunity to hang out together at The Swamp, a kinda - sorta local eatery (only 20 minutes away, huh, Greg?) where we stayed way too long, but enjoyed the time spent with fellow fossil hounds.

(Pictures courtesy Jan Novak and Vicki Lais.)

Searching for shells, teeth and horned coral in the clay banks. Note how high the water is behind us.

The water was very high, severely impacting our collecting. Sylvie is walking in a spot that is normally dry. Even the island is flooded.

In spite of the high water, some nice shark and ray teeth were found.

Shells in matrix. They are very fragile and crumble easily, so are difficult to collect whole.

Ok, this isn't very productive, on to the next site!

At our second site, the water was high so a safety rope was necessary.

The site is cretaceous. Each layer has a unique set of fossils.

Searching for echinoids and shark teeth.

Greg explaining proper excavation techniques.

Ron found an unusual heart-shaped item which turned out to be a disk from a dear vertebra. It is very light-weight and recent, not a fossil.

Fragments found here are still being identified. Look just above the yellow handle to see the first "rocks", then straight to the left. There are some more fragments in the upper right quadrant. Some are probably turtle.

Closer view.

Greg has exposed more fragments, probably turtle.

James had an opportunity to practice making a protective plaster jacket.

Nice ammonite found by James.

Rychard carefully excavates an ammonite.

A close-up view of a ammonite found by Rychard.

Tracks of a recent visitor, a large alligator . . .

Paige, get out of the water, you look just like gator bait!

Ron's other interest is gold panning, and he gave some of us a demo, using gold bearing material he found in Georgia.

Greg, turn around! They told me to quit taking pictures of people's rear ends!

What a group of tired, sweaty people. So where do we go to cool off and relax a while?

The Swamp, of course! Our favorite restaurant on the Alabama River.

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.)

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.)

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.

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Montgomery

May 19, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

June 24, 2006 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery and Elmore Co, AL

August 20, 2005 - Eocene Fossils, Covington and Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

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

September 28, 2002 - Montgomery Co, AL

April 29, 2001 - Montgomery Co, AL

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