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On Monday I visited a site north of Morrisville, Madison County, NY. It is a roadcut exposure of the Marcellus Shale, the lowest part of the Hamilton Group. The bottom part is an exposure of the Bridgewater Member and the top is the Oatkacreek Formation. It was my third time there and each visit has presented a different experience: In the spring of 2013 my companion and I explored the talus slopes that cover most of the exposure and found a number of specimens of the top-shaped gastropod, Bembexia subcomarginata along with brachiopods and bivalves. I returned in the spring of 2014, this time exploring the shale outcrops above the talus slope and picked a number of Bembexia right from the shale wall. On Monday I climbed the steep talus slope again and dug into the shale exposure at the top and discovered a thin bed that was rich in well preserved examples of the tiny corkscrew-shaped gastropod, Paleozygopleura. Also found a number of Bembexia, plus bivalves and brachiopods including Grammysia bisculata and Spinocyrtia granulosa, and one pretty large bivalve with both valves preserved that I first thought was a concretion, and the smooth-shelled nautiloid, Michelinoceras.. This is a photo of the road cut with my vehicle in the foreground for scale.

Since I'm new I thought I'd share a pic of my prize find - Wavellite (hydrous aluminum phosphate = the green spiky balls) on a base of several gastropods from the Keyser Formation in Snyder County Pennsylvania.

Last Saturday, 5/23/15, a group of Fossil Forum members from five different northeastern states gathered at a quarry off Deep Springs Road in Lebanon, NY. to hunt for Middle Devonian marine fossils in shale from the Moscow Formation. This writer first visited the site, featured on Karl Wilson's website, in late spring of 2013 and since has returned six times. Last fall I introduced Tim (Fossildude19) to the site and we came up with the idea that this would be an excellent location for a TFF meet up. Tim made the connections and plans with other TFF members, a date was finally agreed upon, and this writer went to the site on the weekend of 5/3-5/4/15 to check out the parking situation and to gain permission from the owner, a local farmer. Primary features of the site are the sheer abundance of fossils (There are fossils on just about every rock.) and biodiversity, just about every type of marine fossil from the Middle Devonian can be found there. The site differs from others further west, especially those in the Finger Lakes/Buffalo region in that it was much closer to the Catskill Delta to the east, therefore the waters were probably cloudier and the fossil assemblage different from those further west. Corals are rare and bivalves, gastropods, and cephalopods more abundant than those other sites in Western New York. The site is located amidst lovely rolling hills, and fields of corn and cows grazing. Many Amish live in the area. Weather that day; cloudless blue sky, temperatures in the low sixties, was perfect for collecting. Tim, from Connecticut was the first to arrive. Then I showed up, then Mike (Pagurus) and his wife, Leila from Massachusetts, then Rob (snakebite 6769) and his family from Vermont, Carmine (xonenine) from Buffalo, NY., and finally Dave (Shamalama) from the Philadelphia area. Here's a group shot taken by this writer.

I was planning to attend the Museum of the Earth's outing to Jamesville Quarry and knew that gas would be the primary expense for the three and a half hour trip each way. So, I decided to make the most of it and head up there two days early, camp, and visit some very productive Middle Devonian sites my girlfriend, Valerie and I explored last May. 11:30 Thursday morning I arrived at Deep Springs Road quarry near Lebanon in Madison County. It is an excellent exposure of the Windom Shale and was my favorite site on my last visit to the area. A wide variety of well preserved fossil invertebrates are profuse in the relatively soft shale where they can usually be extracted without too much difficulty. Many preserved in calcite, can be removed entirely from the rock. Within the first fifteen minutes I uncovered a small Greenops trilobite cephalon. Several minutes later, I found a complete Phacops rana enrolled. The very top of its cephalon shattered when I removed it from the rock, but otherwise it was perfect. Here's a picture: Almost as exciting was the wide assortment of excellent bivalve fossils I found. This is a Grammysia: Brachiopods were also abundant. This is Athyris spiriferoids: Also found other partial trilobites, crinoid stems, gastropods, and a tiny goniatite. I was going to spend a few hours there and then head over to a nearby exposure of the upper Ludlowville Formation, but I ended up spended the whole day at Deep Springs Road. Friday morning I drove twenty minutes to Pompey Center and a famous roadcut along Route 20 where the Skaneateles Formation is well exposed. Within minutes I found a nice large Cornulites, a bivalve: There were other bivalves as well. This is Modiomorpha: One of my goals was to find a large Spyroceras, a straight-shelled nautiloid. Last May we collected a number of fragments. Friday I was hoping for a more complete one. Wasn't to happen. This is one of the fragments I collected: Also found a number of fragments of Michelinoceras, another straight-shelled nautiloid. The surprise of the morning was a two and a quarter inch goniatite found lying free on top of the roadcut: It was nearly an hour drive east to the tiny hamlet of North Brookfield through stunning farm country. Nearby is a sandstone quarry exposing the Skaneateles Formation which is famous for its abundance of Dipleura dekayi, a huge burrowing trilobite. Valerie and I only spent a short while there last May. Still I was able to find three Dipleura cephalons, a pygidium, also an enormous bivalve, brachiopods, and cephalopods. The first rock I split open on Friday revealed a small, but complete Dipleura cephalon, better than any of the ones I found on my last trip. A few minutes later, I split another sandstone slab and I immediately focused on a bivalve in the center, but then my eyes drifted down to something unusual in the corner. There was the thorax and pygidium of a young Dipleura. When I turned the slab on its side I saw the cephalon still attached to the body, pointing downwards. Even though it was young, it is at least three times the size of the adult Phacops I found the previous day: Later I found a number of pygidiums and some bivalves, including one very large Leioptera. Saturday morning, the Museum of the Earth group was planning to congregate at 11:00 so that gave almost an hour an half to return to Pompey Center. I decided to focus on the lower portion of the roadcut which is shale where last May Valerie found a perfect Paleozygopleura, a lovely corkscrew-shaped gastropod. I was hoping to find one myself. After a while of digging in the crumbly shale, I found a small complete Greenops trilobite. Unfortunately the fragile body was stuck in the imprint and much of it crumbled when i removed it. However the imprint is perfect: Later, I found my own Paleozygopleura, though not as good as the one Valerie found: I joined the Museum of the Earth group at Jamesville Quarry. That excursion is very well documented by Marley's Ghost so I need not repeat anything. I did find a number of teeth of Onychodus sigmoides a rhipidistian fish as well as other small unidentified fish parts. In the Nedrow member of the Onondaga Limestone I found excellent examples of Favosites, a tabulate coral. I brought a number of pieces back. They really show the structure well: Well, that's about it. It's been hectic the past few days organizing, sorting, and cleaning my specimens as well as getting back on track with all the personal and professonal matters I neglected while I was away three days. All in all it feels good to be back home.