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rare heliophyllum delicatum fossil found in upstate NY. In living position and preserved nicely for being over 350 million years old!

Tim (Fossildude19) and I got together Monday the 1st for the third time this year to head up to Central New York, an over three and a half hour trip from Southeastern New York where I live. The weather was bright, sunny, and warm in sharp contrast with our last trip there in early May for the TFF gathering when it was cold and raining. Instead of going straight to Deep Springs Road Quarry, both our favorite collecting site, we decided to stop first at Briggs Road Quarry, a somewhat smaller quarry with a slightly older Middle Devonian marine fauna- the Upper Ludlowville Formation. Some excellent fossils have been found there recently and Tim and I decided we would try our luck. As typical of my experiences there we found a large number of partial Eldredgeops trilobites. I believe Tim found one complete roller. I brought this one piece back with a few partials. However, my best find there was this phyllocarid; Echinocaris punctata, the first phyllocarid I ever found at Briggs Road.

It seems like an eternity since the last time I was able to go fossilhunting. Yesterday the weather was great, so I decided it was time to get back out there. My two youngest and myself stopped first at Briggs Road to try our luck finding some trilos. I was amazed to find the sight just as it was left back on April 27th when everyone left from the group hunt. I took advantage of the spot where @Al Tahan scored his Eldredgeops. The sun had worked its magic and made the matrix pretty workable. It didnt take long before I found a nice trilo. I haven't taken measurement yet but it is a decent size Eldredgeops, or one but the head is covered with matrix. The thorax and pygidium popped off during extraction but I bit of glue and some prep should fix that. We all found trilo bits and pieces with a couple possible whole ones. The sun was radiating off the pit enough that it felt like an oven for the hour and a half we were there. After leaving Briggs, we headed over to Deep Springs to see what goodies we could score. I saw alot of digging which probably took place during the other half off the group hunt. I really wasnt in the mood for serious digging myself so I resigned to surface scan and shale splitting I was rewarded with some brachs and a nice gastropod.there were many different types of fossils present but I decided to be picky. I only kept a few that I felt were worthy. At one point while surface scanning I saw a familiar sight. It was a negative off a large fish scale, like the one Al had found recently. It was still attached to the host rock so I broke of the chunk and brought it home thinking If it matches the one Al has I would give it to him. We stayed for about an hour and a half there and then it was time to head home the heat was getting to us and the boys were tired. While we were getting ready to leave, we were approached by a gentleman on a tractor. I thought I may be the owner of the property, but as it turned out he was a guy who works for the owner. His name is Mark. He asked if the boys enjoyed themselves and we talked for about a half hour about all sorts of things. He told me about the owner, who he was, and where he lived. He stated that they are amazed that with all of the people who come to hunt the property, they never find trash. That is one of the reasons the owner is more than happy to let people hunt it. We also talked about hunting, fishing, Bee keeping, and of course fossils. I showed him some of our finds and explained what they were. He seemed like a really nice guy. It was a great way to end the trip. I am going to post pics but it may take awhile as some need to be resized. I haven't quite figured out the camera on my new phone. But for now I will leave you with this pic. This is what happens when a bald guy forgoes the sunscreen and only wears a baseball cap. This is also how i looked last night when i went out for dinner and then drinks.

Hello all, My good friend Jeffrey P and I were finally able to coordinate a day out hunting together in our favorite Devonian spot upstate, as well as one I hadn't visited yet. ( The Briggs Road site!) Both are Moscow Formation, Hamilton group Middle Devonian sites. I haven't been out much this year, and so I decided to take a floating holiday to make it happen. We had missed the opportunity of collecting together when we were both in Western NY during the 4th of July week. This is usually a really fun get together, and while I did OK at our usual haunt, I did miss my frequent collecting partner's company. Anyway, as stated, ... I took a Monday off of work to make the trip to see Jeff last Monday, ... July 16th. Jeff generously offered to drive to the sites. Deep Springs Road is about a 4.5 hour trip for me to make from my home. But with Jeff driving, I only had to drive an hour to meet him at a commuter lot off of I-84 in New York. We met up at 6:00 AM, moved my gear to his car, and off we went. The 3.5 hour drive to the site was full of good conversation and tales of his adventures, and our hopeful find list for this trip. Jeff had brought his I-pad with him, so that I could peruse photos of his recent fossil finds and vacation adventures, (here, and abroad.) during the trip. The weather forecast was calling for a partly cloudy day, with a high of 89. The slight chance of rain that was forecast never materialized. We arrived at the first site between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. Briggs road is a small roadside quarry. Lots of broken rock was around - evidence of other area hunters. We spent about 40 minutes here, Jeff working some slabs, while I did my wander and split thing. I was unlucky enough to flip over a rock and find a yellow-jacket nest. Luckily, I got away without being stung. It definitely agitated the yellow-jackets, though. I picked up a few things, here and there. Mostly 3/4partial Eldredgeops rana, missing the cephalons. Nothing worth photographing. With the Yellow-Jackets guarding the productive layer, we headed over to Deep Springs Road. *************************************************************************************** By this time, the sun was getting higher in the sky, and it was starting to get hot. Deep Springs Road Quarry is like a parking lot. The gray matrix gets hot to the touch, and there is little shade. After about an hour of poking around, and 2 20 OZ bottles of water later, I decided to try to find some shade. I was finding some cool things here and there. I took shelter under a thorn bush that provided a bit of respite from the heat. I pulled rocks over and split them as I sat on a kneeling pad and rested my elbow on my bandana, drinking water now and again. Hydration is important. Jeff was a trooper, and spent most of his time in the full sun, lifting out blocks and splitting them down. Moving about the quarry from spot to spot. He said that he was in "training" for his trip out to Texas later this summer. I broke for lunch, and a cold seltzer refreshed me, and gave me a second wind. I made a number of good finds, and was happy, as this was only my 3rd time out collecting this year. Life has been busy, so it was nice to make up for lost time. Jeff did not do as well, although he found some interesting pieces things. My luck was with me, and a number of my finds were found just by looking at the ground. I'm not a real motivated digger when I don't have to be, and am content finding what others have missed. I like to split things down until there is no chance that a fossil is hiding. Anyway, these techniques worked in my favor this time. The day went on, and shade started to appear. Jeff took a break, and recharged himself with some time in the shade. By nearly 5:00 PM we decided we were done. We packed up our gear and finds, and headed out on the road. I enjoyed the conversation with Jeff, and his eclectic taste in music. Always relaxing and interesting music of all varieties coming from his car stereo/ipod hook-up. Actually made some notes on bands to check out when I had the chance. We arrived at the commuter lot at around 9:25 PM, said our goodbyes, and I headed for home. With traffic and all, I reached home at about 10:40 PM. Thanks @Jeffrey P, for a great day out hunting. ****************************************************************************************** I ended up having quite the day with phyllocarids. I ended up with 10 partialphyllocarids - 2 Echinocaris punctata, and 8 partial Rhinocaris columbina . Only a few trilobites - 1 enrolled Eldredgeops rana, one enrolled Greenops sp., one prone partial Greenops sp., and 3 Dipleura dekayi pygidiums. A host of gastropods, bivalves, and brachiopods found their way home with me as well. First - a grouping of my finds. and some close ups ... Trilobites: Dipleura dekayi pygidiums Eldredgeops rana Greenops sp. Greenops sp. Phyllocarids: Rhinocaris columbina Rhinocaris columbina Echinocaris punctata Gastropods: Paleozygopleura hamiltonae covered with bryozoan. Paleozygopleura hamiltonae "squish-out" with a Glyptotomaria capillaria and another Paleozygopleura hamiltonae. Retispira leda Glyptotomaria capillaria Brachiopods: Rhipidomella penelope Athyris spiriferoides Lingula spatulata Pelecypods: Grammysioidea alveata Cypricardella bellistriata Paleoneilo emarginata & Paleoneilo filosa Pholladella radiata Modiomorpha concentrica, Cypricardella bellistrata, Nuculoidea corbuliformis, +2 unknown Unknown Pteriomorpha bivalve: Leiopteria conradi?? Pseudoaviculapecten sp. a Assorted other finds: First item is unknown,.. possibly a hyolith. Plant fragment, orthocone cephalopod, possibly Spyroceras sp.. Tornoceras uniangulare unknown Thanks for reading.