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Well, it's been a while since I was able to get out and get some hunting in. Between social distancing, yard work, a tricky lower back issue, and the occasional migraine, I hadn't been able to get out except once, since before the pandemic started. Jeffrey P and I had plans for August 2nd to go out, and I was sidelined by a migraine. No fun. We rescheduled to August 9th. On August 8th, the trick back acted up. Uggh. I really did not want to bail again! Did some stretches, and a bit of work on my elliptical on Saturday, and ended up being OK for Sunday morning. So, ... I got up at 4:15 AM. Made some coffee, packed some things, and my gear, and headed off to meet Jeff at our usual meet up spot, an hour away from my home. We both got there at the same time. Said hello, and switched my gear over to Jeff's car. Within minutes, we were off. After about an hour and a half, and a stop for gas and snacks in the small town of Roscoe, NY, we headed up towards Deep Springs Road. I had not been to DSR since last year, and Jeff hadn't been there since the beginning of spring. We were both looking forward to getting out and finding some neat fossils, as we always do when we go to DSR. On the 3.5 hour drive to the site, we caught up, discussed Jeffrey's prodigious finds from his recent trips to the Cretaceous of NJ, listened to a wide variety of music (Thanks Jeff, for turning me on to the Smoke Fairies!) and discussed our lock down experiences during this pandemic. After an hour and 45 minutes, we arrived. The day was beautiful, not overly hot, with a bit of a breeze here and there. We got to work almost immediately. We worked for a bit to free a huge bench Jeff had started the last time he was there. Got it loosened by the end of the day, but no joy with moving it. Someone else will likely enjoy the fruits of our labors. Oh well. I wandered off to do my walk and split thing, finally settling on the lower level in the middle, where I have had good luck with Greenops trilobites, and the enigmatic phyllocarids found at the site. While working that area, I found a few nice Greenops sp. rollers, a few Rhinocaris phyllocarid bits, along with a nice on-edge prone-ish (albeit bit crumpled up) example. I found that specimen shortly after the arrival of @FossilJen and her son. We welcomed them and answered a few questions, showed them a few finds, and I gifted the specimen I had just found to the curious newbies. Hopefully we made a good impression, and have hooked a few more people into the fossil hunting addiction. At this point, I took a break for water and some food. It was hot under the sun! I moved up higher into the quarry, where there was plentiful shade. I'd never worked up there before, but I was finding trilobits and trilobutts, frequently. A few decent things were found, including some plant material, some neat brachiopods, a few bryozoan encrusted gastropods, a tiny Eldredgeops roller, an Echinocaris phyllocarid valve, and a partial Greenops sp prone trilobite. By this time, it was getting late, and we were getting a bit tuckered out. l did a bit more wandering, and came upon this, sitting on the edge of the outcrop on the second level of the quarry, near the middle of the site. This was a partial imprint of a 5.5 or 6 inch prone Dipleura dekayi! There was no way to remove this in one piece, (at least in the time we had left!) so I collected it via photograph. After shaking my head for a bit, we packed up, and got on the road. After a bit of a drive, we stopped at our favorite Scottish restaurant, had dinner, and continued on our way. At around 8:45 PM we arrived at our meet up spot, said our goodbyes, and headed home. I was home by around 10:20 PM. exhausted, but happy to have gotten out and made some decent finds. Photos to follow. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. Continued:

With fall just around the corner, I was able to get in a hunting trip with my friend Jeffrey P, to the wilds of upstate NY: Specifically, the Deep Springs Road Site, in Earlville. I met up with Jeff at our usual meet up place, and time, (6:00 am at a park and ride near Jeff - about an hour away from my home.) and loaded his gear into my vehicle. Off we went. We enjoyed some very nice scenery, once the morning fog lifted. Hills, streams, farms, and wildlife. We both saw a bald eagle flying by, and some turkeys, chickens, and a deer or two. After a stop for gas and some food in Roscoe, NY, we headed up to Earlville. It was, as usual, a good ride, punctuated with some great conversation, and some interesting music. We arrived at the site around 9:50 AM. The place looked like it had be worked quite a bit, with large areas of rubble from other people's digging. The weather cooperated nicely, - it was beautiful, with temps in the low 70's, and we enjoyed sun and some cool breezes. We got to work quickly, and finds came in drips and drabs. We both made some decent finds, (pics to follow.) Jeff getting ready to start the day. We hunted until about 5 pm. With a 4.5 hour drive ahead, (for me) we got on the road. A brief stop at everyone's favorite Scottish Restaurant, and a quick stop for gas, we finished the day out with more good conversation and music. Traffic was great until after I dropped Jeff off. I spent about 25 minutes in stop and go traffic on I-84 through Southbury. I got home at around 9:45 PM. Jeff is such a great guy to hunt with. Informative, supportive, knowledgeable, and often quite funny. I always enjoy hunting trips with him. Thanks again for another great trip, Jeff. Please feel free to add your finds here, Jeff. Hope you enjoyed the report and finds. Until next time, Kind regards,

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.