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Hi guys! So I'm planning to go back to one of the Calvert County beaches to try my luck again- I haven't had any success with finding teeth bigger than about a quarter inch and I'm hoping to find something a little bigger next time. My current technique is to dig up sand from the water and sift through it super carefully- should I switch it up and try something different to find big teeth? If so, does anyone have any recommendations for how to find them? And, final question, which beaches are good for finding larger specimens? I know Purse and Matoaka are good for quantity but I don't know which are best for finding big fossils. I'm still very new to tooth hunting so any help would be appreciated!
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So I was at Arkona with my family recently, and at the flooded pit my mom found this piece It's about an inch long It's the hole(?) that I'm confused about. The only thing I can think of is some type of coral, but I really have no idea.
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First Group Fossil Hunt of the Season - Thaleops Trilobite!
Bev posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
April 10, 2021 1-4 pm Spring Valley, Minnesota Eagle Bluff Environmental Education Center organized hunt Led by Bev Sandlin, Bluffcountryfossils.net Whispering Winds, Spring Valley, MN Galena Formation Ordovician fossils What FUN!!! And what Great Finds! This hunt was organized by Eagle Bluff Environmental Education Center in Lanesboro, MN. I am doing hunts for them every 2nd Saturday of the month through this season and any private hunts they book as well. We had about 20 participants and it was a whirlwind hunt they all were enjoying as I left them still hunting the 3rd site at 4 pm! We started at my place, Whispering Winds, Spring Valley, MN with the fossil gardens to acclimate their eyes to what fossils they are looking for and a bit about the Ordovician time period. This is the river bank hunt portion of site 1. The cliff face is great for showing the difference between the Stewartville and Prosser members of the Galena Formation. I wish I had pics of all the fossils we found on this hunt! But I have a few and this cephalopod is one found along the creek bank. We hunted by the spring, the abandoned quarry and then the "Cave Man" cave. Taking pictures in the cave. Y And what finds! You will have to forgive my photos as these were all taken in the field on a very cool, 40 degree F, spring day. One of the BEST 3D graptolites I have ever seen! Without a microscope, I can't tell if this is a "print" of crinoids or bryzoans, but it is spectacular! And fragile, and of course these all went home with the collectors. :-D Any of you know what this is??? And DRUM ROLL, I am so envious of this find, a THALEOPS TRILOBITE that appears whole! And this guy is large! Perhaps 2 inches or better across! Dad, an experienced hunter from over south of La Crosse, Caleb's old territory, found this and the trilo is pictured with his son. What a PRIZE!!! We moved on to site 2 with lots collected there including this nice gastropod. Gotta love the enthusiasm of the kids! :-D And onto site 3 where I left them all happily breaking rock! I did invite anyone back over to my home if they needed IDs. I went home exhausted, as I just had surgery the week before and my last covid vaccination which put me down for two days that week, but so happy to see so many smiles under the masks! Thank you TFF for making this possible! Without all of the oh so patient TFF members teaching me about fossils, I would not be able to share the joy of fossil hunting with others! KUDOs TFF!!! Oh, FYI, I know my fossil blog is down, but can't seem to figure out how to get it back up on hostgator. The gal who did it has since died and I'm not techy, but working on it. Anyone with suggestions, please PM me. :-D
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Carter and I got to do some fossil hunting in the late Cretaceous Chico Formation for the first time last weekend. We had previously not had opportunities to poke around our local formation so we were pretty excited. My kids grew up hiking trails, restoring habitat and rescuing wildlife. They went to work with me frequently and helped out with field work for school. Carter, in particular, really enjoyed the work and the time outside so we were both excited to get outside and do something new. We tried to different locations and our exploration consisted of light surface sifting. We did not get a chance to really dig but that was fine. Fossils were the true goal. Father son time was the goal. Outdoor time together. Not being able to do our presentations has been tough on us so a fun day was good stress relief. We found some shells that were modern, a few that might be fossils and something that Carter thought was a shark tooth in the micro matrix we were taking with us to put under the scope. Carter was correct. He found a shark tooth. I recognized it immediately when we got home and I was SHOCKED at what I was seeing. He found a Squatina tooth !!!!!! I have not seen many Chico Formation teeth and we only had two, both Sand Tiger. I knew Squatina was possible but I didn’t expect to find one. I’m even happier because Carter found it. It was in his bag. I was so happy to tell him that we did find a tooth and it was an Angelshark. Due to their unique adaptations and conservation status, they are a shark we talk about a lot in our programs. I take this as a good omen concerning our future of fossil education in Northern California I was also extremely happy to tell him a short time later, he had found a second tooth among the many tiny shells. It’s not complete but looks exactly like the two Sand Tigers we already have. Two shark teeth isn’t a lot volume wise but I absolutely consider this a hugely successful hunt. I have a tiny bit more matrix to look through so perhaps there is more to find. Either way, it was just a great day with my kiddo !
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Fossil hunting in the COVID age: Any word on practicing the activity?
MeargleSchmeargl posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
With lockdowns strangling basically everything right now, one question floats around in my noggin: is there anything on whether travelling for remote recreational activities is alright? I say this as obviously nobody's going (or should be going) to the big name sites where there's probably other visitors to contend with, but what about the lesser known sites where you can be fairly confident there won't be anyone physically exposed to you for miles in any direction? Is there anything in the books about it? I assume the answer is just stay put regardless, but I am indeed curious if there is anything in the books on remote/solo recreational activity away from home... -
So I stumbled upon this tooth I think when I went out fossil hunting. Found in northern texas. Can anybody ID or confirm this?
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Today I was pretty stressed out, but it was also my day off work so I figured what better to do than go out for a hike. Usually around this time of the year Truman Lake's water level drops, and more spots are accessible to hunt for treasures or to journey and site see. I wasn't looking for fossils but instead I was looking for fishing lures, (You'd be amazed how many you can find when the water drops) but I always keep an eye out for fossils as well. I ended up finding a nice little exposure that is usually underwater, and boy it was worth the search. It was about a hour and a half walk to where the exposure was from my car, and I didnt have long to search before the sun set. I probably had a good 40 minutes of sunlight to search and came up with a lot. So much infact, I still have a lot of cleaning to do! Some of the solitary and colonial rugose corals are geodized, or have lovely crystal lining on the inside. I didnt get to take many pictures which I regret, and my few pictures don't do the lovely crystalized coral justice. I suppose I'll share a final photo when I get everything cleaned up.
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Hey, all! I would like to hunt for fossils in or near Columbus, Ohio. Do any of you have any recommendations for locations to hunt or resources that I could consult? Thank you!
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Hello fine fossil folks, I will be in Toronto this weekend (Friday night, Saturday night, leave Sunday) with my wife Visiting her aunts, uncles and cousins for a baby shower. Now that we are married they are my family too!! We go to Toronto pretty often now so I figured I’d better get used to some of the local geology/paleontology. Ive seen a few people post some nice Toronto trips. Anyone interested in getting out in the field this weekend? I don’t know when but I imagine my wife will tell me I can get lost for a few hours fossil hunting if I ask nicely . Hope to hear back! I’ll keep this thread going and add to it should I get out there collecting and decide to post the trip. Al
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Hey all, I am new here and to the hobby in general so I apologize if I am not following some etiquettes that I don't know about. I just wanted to share my experience on the Withlacoochee river so that maybe someone else can learn from it. My buddy and I drove up to the Florida Georgia line to visit the Withlacoochee river and hunt for some agatized coral. I am a senior geology student and none of my fellow classmates or professors I've asked know how or where to fossil hunt for whatever reason so I am learning this all myself. Anyways, I brought a couple kayaks and we got on the river with neither of us having a clue what to look for other than what information I could find on this wonderful forum. We spent the better part of an hour loading down the kayaks with what now appears to be junk rocks and paddling upstream towards some gunshots on the north side of the bank shooting west to east that we inferred we're coming from the gun range we saw signs for. When we got close enough to hear the snap of the bullets before they hit their steel targets, I noticed that the bed of the river was full of the coral so I hopped in and started loading up with rocks despite my friend's insistence that this was not a smart place to be. We could hear the shots hitting the steel and ricocheting off into the trees, but I figured I was safe down in the river. After about 10 minutes, one of the ricochets impacted about 2 feet away from us and startled us real good. We booked it out of there and went upstream hoping to come back when the range closed. Eventually we ran out of time and had to paddle back past the range, luckily with no close calls but there was still shooting unnervingly close. While we were loading up the kayaks on the ramp under the highway, however, another bullet whizzed over our heads. This was about a mile away from the range. We drove past the range on our way back to kindly suggest they do something to fix this in the future, and we were not taken seriously. The worker even tried to tell me it was a different man on the south side of the river, yeah right. I did learn that they were closed on Mondays, so maybe I can make another trip out there to actually find some decent coral. Anyways, be safe out there everyone. I would enjoy hearing about other stories similar to this so that I may learn the easy way in the future.
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Hi all, This weekend, after the long, boring and annoying winter months (it's always mildly cold, but very windy and rainy in the Netherlands in winter... horrible fossil hunting conditions) spring finally let out the tip of its nose, with a nice sun, blue sky and decent temperature. About time! We all know what this means... time to do some fossil-hunting! So on Sunday morning I woke up, prepared my fossil hunting equipment (mainly bags and boxes; no tools needed for this beach), made myself a lunch, and set out at 13:00 to the bus. The bus ride to Kijkduin takes me about an hour, so I arrived at the beach at 14:06. But, as usual, because it's by bus I'm not dropped off at the ideal spot, so I have to walk about an hour on the beach, due south-west, to actually get to the Zandmotor. But that wasn't much of a problem... this part of the beach already has a few fossils to yield, although not as many, so you can start the fossil hunting right away. Didn't find anything significant though in that first stretch. You're literally walking on lots of Eemian fossil shells, but these species are all very common. Spisula solida, Cerastoderma edule, C. glaucum, and Macoma balthica are just not worth picking up, unless it's a specimen that stands out to me (unusual size, pathologies, weird colors, etc). Here's a map to better illustrate the places I will mention. Note that it's approximate. Also, the sand cliffs and the shell banks often move around, we are after all on a beach with lots of wind and water movement, so these positions aren't defined. But this is what was the case this weekend. And the pink Zandmotor "limit" isn't accurate either, it's more my view as in "this is good fossil-hunting territory". By the way, that red S is where the bus drops me off. Oh, and that big puddle in the middle of the beach is actually a very popular kite-surf spot, especially for amateurs because there are no waves. This time I started off the hunt at the "sand cliffs" as I like to call them, (2m tall at the highest point, so not real cliffs), then went on to an area more to the south of the Zandmotor (at the bottom of the dark blue line on the map). It was my first time properly hunting that little area, and it turns out it's actually a good spot, I found lots of good bivalve fossils there! After an hour or two I sat down to eat my lunch (yes, a very late lunch, but time flies by when you're fossil hunting! I'm actually still surprised I remembered to eat my lunch at all, I usually get so caught up in the hunt that I often just completely forget to eat my lunch at all ), then went onto the richest part of the Zandmotor when it comes to shells, the..... (drumroll please)............. shell banks! I know, very unexpected! The real Eemian shell banks are usually lying on the north-center of the Zandmotor, between the cliffs and the shoreline. That is when I made my two favorite finds of the day: a gorgeous Propebela turricula, and a bit later, Gari fervensis! After a total of about 5 hours hunting, I decided it was time to get back home, so I called it a day. But man was it a good day! I found an incredible diversity of fossil shells, especially bivalves. Onto some pictures, starting with some location pics.
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Hello Fossikers! I am going to be in Torrey Utah and surrounding area in mid September and would love to go hunting somewhere....any suggestions? I'm not at all familiar with the area so any info would be most appreciated! Thanks!!
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The British are coming to the badlands The project has been dubbed "Mission Jurassic" - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47684989
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In Charleston for a couple of days. Thinking of hitting Edisto Beach this evening. Anyone interested in joining? Feel free to PM me
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Fossil hunt for the bucket list. Too few pics of the fossils, but worth the time to peruse. Fossil expedition to the Canadian Cambrian The parent article is Here.
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Hi all, I'm Aidan from Hong Kong. My fossil hunt began when my father bought me a Trilobite fossil when I was 11, since then, I'm obsessed with these ancient beauties. As Hong Kong has nowhere for fossil hunt, I traveled to foreign countries such as Britain, Slovakia, France, Germany to search for them. Those amazing trips were memorable and I 'upgraded' my collection, I just can't wait for my next trip! Recently, my father bought a 4-inch Megalodon teeth from Britain, that was my best fossil ever, hope you like it! P.S. Hong Kong is a fun place, except the poor collection of fossils in the museums, the cuisines and hiking trails are terrific!
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Hello, does anyone know if there are any great fossil hunting sites in Asia? I'm going to Chiang Mai, Thailand this summer for a week, will be happy to know if there is some. Other fossil hunting sites in Asia countries are also welcomed. By the way, are there any marvelous natural history/ fossil museums in Thailand?
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Fossil hunting creeks near Summerville SC savannah ga or jacksonville
Mynewlife posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I have been fossil hunting about three years and have been to one ditch on the outskirts of Summerville sc that yielded a few colorful teeth, but it is secluded and hasn't felt very safe. It is screenable since it is outside city limits. However I'd like to find some new places to try in the area. I did walk the creek on the side of the YMCA ball field but the bottom was very hard and unfruitful and I'm not even sure I was in the right place. Can anyone offer any suggestions on where I might try as I am fairly new. I'm not asking for everyone's "honey hole" as I understand it takes work to find good areas. I'm just looking to find a place I can go to maybe on a weekend trip since I live two hours away as a part time hobby. I am even open to guided fossil hunt tours if anyone knows any good ones in the Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA or Jacksonville, FL areas. Thanks! -
Hi! does anyone know where to look for fossils in Bali, we have just moved here. Three mad keen junior diggers would appreciate any insights. THANKS!
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I think one is a broken vertebra and 2 horse teeth?
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hey guys might be a long shot but here goes ! what could this be ?
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Got off from school today due to ice and freezing rain. As any normal person would do on a snow day, I decided to go to the beach! It was not rainy when we left, but it was pouring on the hour thirty drive. I got a little scared I’d be rained out but to my surprise it stopped as we got there. The cliffs were wet and dangerous, so I kept my distance near overhangs (don’t want to know what dying would do to my GPA). The rain was kind to me, this beauty of a cow shark (Broadnose sevengill) sat there as if it was waiting for me. It’s missing the last blade but this is my first one. Anyone know how to tell the difference between males and females? tons of Physos (which really need a colloquial name. I propose gnarly shark or grizzly shark. Pygmy tiger sounds less cool...) and the usual chunkosaurus and turtles scutes. Picked up one to find it was purty big, just hiding under the sand. The half shark vert I found is my largest yet, and I got another one as well. I don’t usually post regular hunts but this one was nice so I thought some might like it. The redacted bit is a legume seas I found and mistakenly thought was a whale ear bone
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First and foremost, I'd like to thank all those who serve or who have served in the U.S. Military for their service, and wish them a happy Veterans day a little late. So I decided to go on a hunt to matoaka, got there about or a little before low tide. They have sitters to borrow there, which is a nice gesture but unless you hope to pick up some sand and find a 3 inch meg they help about as much as a flu shot helps a head ache. As an added bonus, the air was a crisp 30 some degrees (low 30s) and the water much colder. As i went down the steps a fellow fossil hunter headed up and said " Good luck! There's a lot of sand..." which is not a great omen. Nevertheless, I forged ahead. I started along the cliffs, I had been advised to look at fallen dirt for megs, which didn't pan out. I started picking up complete chesapectans until realizing there were copious amounts, so I picked ended up with about twenty (no double valves this time) so I'm going to have to have a competition for chesapectans, anyone game for that? I found about half an ecphora, purty big too, and put it in my bag unfortunately though the bottom failed to seal due to sand and somehow it fell out. Once I realized this I combed the beach many times to no avail. Disheartened, I decided to try my luck for the waterline for sharks teeth instead. This turned out well, I got one shark vert and a few snaggle teeth, one looked like a meg at first (of course everything starts to look like one after a while) and some other various shark teeth, one possible patho. Rays teeth and ecphora pieces were also found and some coral (A. palmata). So all in all, a pretty good day once the fingers went numb. I am still on the prowl for the ecphora and meg though..... Some of the finds:
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After a long day of barbequeing, having drinks, and spending time with friends, I somehow managed to get up at 5am. I headed out to Deep Springs with a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately today was uneventful. I wasn't finding much. It got hot pretty quick, once the sun got up. But I really enjoy the quiet, peaceful mornings. So I still had a good time. I found a turtle while I was there. It really seemed so out of place in the middle of this quarry. But Devin found some sun-bleached turtle remains while there on a previous trip. Whatever the reason, they frequent this place. I didn't have a lot of time so around 8:15 I decided to leave and head over to Briggs Road quarry to see if I could find some trilo material from the debris pile. I did find some parts and pieces, but didn't bring much home. I am getting picky. I almost forgot, the main reason I am even posting about this uneventful trip. At Deep Springs I found some tools. I had a hard time deciding if I should leave them there or not. If I left them there they could of very easily been buried in debris. They were pretty camouflaged by being covered in mud and some what rusty. And there is nothing saying that somebody else wouldnt of taken them other than the true owner. So in an effort to get them back to whoever they belong to I have them. So if there is anybody who recently left tools at Deep Springs, if you can descibe the tools I will gladly make arrangements to get them back to you. Here are a couple pics. 1&2 The Turtle, 3 the site I am working.
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I went on a quick, 2 hr hunt this morning. I gi t up around 5am hit the road by 5:30 ,and after a stop at McDonalds for an ever so nutritious breakfast, arrived at Briggs Road at 7. I haven't hunted at Briggs too much because I have devoted a lot of my time to Deep Springs. But I swung by there the other day for a few minutes just to scope things out. I noticed right away someone had put a lot of work into the lower level of the pit. Upon inspection of the debris pile, I found quite a few trilo parts with very little evidence of other fossils. BINGO! I knew this had to be the trilo layer. So todays plan was to get a couple hours of digging into this layer, before I had to be home to start my wife's Honey -do list. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a complete Eldredgeops right off the bat.The body broke right at the cephalon, but it was a clean break and I glued at as soon as I got back home and you can't even tell. I could not believe how many parts and pieces I was finding. I found a small complete roller that I didn't even know was whole till I got it home and trimmed it up and then it popped out of the matrix. And then I found one last keeper, I decent size body with pygidium exposed. I can't tell if the cephalon is hidden, I may attempt to prep this with a dremel. I really need and want to learn how to prep. I didn't keep all the parts and pieces as they where many. But here are pics of the site and the better finds. This site happens to be pretty small. If you look beyond my car, almost in line with the front end you can see where I was digging. I need to spend a whole day there! And maybe I could find myself a gazillion trilobites like some people. Cough cough (Kane) cough cough!
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