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Despite the foreboding weather prediction, the conditions for the spring gathering of TFF members at Deep Springs Road quarry was nearly ideal; sunny and pleasantly cool in the morning and when the rain finally did arrive in early afternoon it was only light and intermittent. Kane had announced to us he was traveling across the border from Ontario, accompanied by his wife, Deb, and member of the month, Jay (Devonian Digger). Members from New York, PA., Connecticut, and Massachusetts wanting to meet them and collect at a great spot gathered there. Deep Springs Road is the easternmost exposure of the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group's Moscow Formation's Windom Shale, the same formation exposed at Penn Dixie where Jay work and collects. But the fauna at Deep Springs Road is entirely different. Corals are nearly absent. Bivalves are extremely abundant. Species such as the large trilobite Dipleura dekayi which are very rare at Penn Dixie are common here. Every rock has the potential to reveal the gems of this rich and diverse fauna. Oh, and by the way, thanks largely to Kane and Jay's and Darktooth Dave's prodigious efforts a massive amount of rock was moved. In the picture, left to right-Kane's wife Deb, Jay, Mike (Pagurus) and his wife, Leila. Above them- Kane. On the far right, Tim (Fossildude19).

Inspired by my friend, Darktooth, Dave and his recent exploits at Deep Springs Road quarry I decided due to a favorable weather report on Monday to visit my favorite site for the for first time in 2018. I woke up Monday morning to an inch of snow in the Hudson Valley. Headed north on the Thruway to Albany through more snow, then west, finally on Route 20. About hallway there, the sky cleared and the snow covering reduced to patches. After a three and a half hour trip I arrived at Deep Springs Road. True to Dave's word, the site was completely snow free. The temp was in the mid 40s, sunny and warm enough that later in the day I was removing my outerwear. Deep Springs Road quarry is the eastern most exposure of the Windom Shale, the Moscow Formation which lies at the top of the Hamilton Group- which is also the top of the Middle Devonian. It is the same formation exposed at Penn Dixie. What is notable about this site is the biodiversity- at least 20 species of brachiopods, more than 20 species of bivalves, at least 5 species of gastropods, plus cephalopods, trilobites, phyllocarids, plants, etc. Dave's recent excavation left me a lot of rock to split which took up most of my day. I did my own excavation as well. Here are some of my finds: My favorite find of the day- the largest Spyroceras nautiloid I've found at the site so far. A Cimitaria recurva, a bivalve in 3D. Pholadella radiate, another bivalve.

Since my move to Utah two weeks ago I have been dying to return to U-Dig. My wife allowed me to go on one condition, that I would be back home by 3:30 in time for her brothers farewell party as he is going on his Mormon mission next Wednesday. I ended up calling Shayne the quarry owner, explaining my dilemma and asked him if I could start digging at 7:00 am, two hours before the site opened. Surprisingly he approved and I called Bevan. Bevan was going to man the station at U-Dig so Shayne wanted me to give him a heads up. I awoke on Saturday morning at 3:30 am and hit the road at 3:45. I was at the site by 6:45 and digging by 7:00 am just in time to see the sun come up over the hills and the sun rays radiate off of the storm clouds from an early morning storm. Had a phenomenal trip. Dug up fifteen Asaphiscus wheeleri, eight Elrathia kingii, and one Perenopsis. If you ever get the chance to dig here do it. You will not come away disappointed. I met a gentleman named Nick from Syracuse, New York and we talked about all the neat sites in western New York, primarily Penn Dixie. Bevan volunteered me to show three guys who had never dug the Windom shale on how to find good trilobites. We all walked away with some great finds. Breathtaking view at sunrise. Notice the dispersing rain clouds. An omen for a perfect day. I certainly miss Calvert Cliffs in Maryland along with some other eastern coast marine fossil locations but the view here in Utah is absolutely sublime. The nothingness of the desert has a certain beauty to it. Witnessed two antelope on my way out and one of them was matching the speed of my car at 40-45 MPH these amazing animals can top out at 55 MPH and they need to be that fast because Mountain Lions also referred to as Cougars or Puma top out at 50 MPH. I was certainly on the lookout for scorpion, rattlesnake, and Cougars but didn't see any. Rattlesnake seem to be the most common and dangerous. An assortment of Asaphiscus and Elrathia. Most are molts but some are complete or near complete. The bottom left is complete (2 inch) and bottom right is near complete. Both are Asaphiscus wheeleri and large for their size. This is the find of the day and more uncommon than Elrathia kingii. This is a prone two inch Asaphiscus wheeleri. Bevan noted there is some oxidation but that could be prepped off. Not sure what to do with it. Might need to send this one to a professional *cough* @Malcolmt *cough* though I do owe some of these to my other Canadian friend *cough* @Kane *cough Disarticulated Elrathia kingii. I normally don't see them like this and there are some orange flakes where the top side broke off. I believe this one is a complete specimen and not a molt. Interesting preservation for this specimen. Found this large Elrathia kingii out in the open next to a bunch of rock with hammer marks. Someone must have been splitting rock and this specimen popped out. Not the best Asaphiscus but should make for some good preparation practice. Large Asaphicus wheeleri molt. For most of the day I was targeting these as opposed to the more common Elrathia kingii and found a really good location where a bunch of Asaphiscus where colocated. 1.5 inch Elrathia kingii. Should prep out nicely from a gentle dremmel brush. Another near two inch A. wheeleri. This one appears to be a molt. The disarticulated E. kingii. A collection of E. kingii. Most are molts. One large slab contained about fifteen of these but I didn't want to haul it back to the car. It was a great day. E. kingii. Should be complete. Needs some prep work. Close up of the big one. Large Asaphiscus molt and there appears to be another inverted over to the left. The yellow color on this Asaphiscus is interesting and I believe Bevan said this was oxidation. I'll need to do some more research as to why this happens. This would have been a phenomenal specimen but the glabella is missing. I'll give it to a friend. Disarticulated Asaphiscus molt. Elrathia that should prep nicely. This one is interesting. It appears to be a complete Asaphiscus but is inverted revealing the ventral side. If anyone is up for a prep challenge let me know and I'll send this to you.The color is a dark brown and should make for a very nice specimen. Love the brown color on this Asaphiscus. They usually don't come in this color and the brown is a result of oxidation. Another E. kingii in need of some prep love. Sometimes you'll find what I call ghosts where the specimen is preserved under a thin layer of shale. These generally prep out well albeit this one is a partial molt. Saving it for some prep practice. Some more molts. Partial Asaphiscus that will make for some good prep practice.

I was barely recovered from the Brechin, Ontario trip the weekend before when I headed out to the Buffalo area, an annual pilgrimage July 4th weekend for the past four years. Usually the highlight of the weekend is the planned meet up with Tim (Fossildude19) to do a bit of fossil collecting together. Others often join us, but this year it was just the two of us. Weather was perfect and we hit our favorite spot; Smokes Creek, a Windom Shale, Moscow Formation, Middle Devonian Hamilton Group site. This is Tim doing what he enjoys most- breaking rocks:

Yesterday was a planned get together of TFF member friends at one of my favorite Middle Devonian localities- Deep Springs Road in Madison County southwest of Hamilton. It is the easternmost exposure of the Moscow Formation and the Windom Shale- the same formation exposed at Penn Dixie- but a very different faunal content. Biodiversity is the primary feature of this site and this outing added to an already long species list. This trip was actually a long time in planning. Frank (frank8147), a long time collector in New Jersey's Cretaceous streams, had been expressing to me a desire to visit Upstate New York and try his hand at Paleozoic collecting. He told me he and his girlfriend were planning a trip and once we were able to set a date- which was right on the heels of my own trip to Germany, I decided to invite a few other TFF friends. Tim (fossildude19), Dave (Darktooth), Diane (Mediospirifer), Dom (Dsailor), and Tony (njfossilhunter) were able to make it. Tony and I drove up together. Thanks Tony for all of that driving. Dom and Frank were new to the site. Tim and Dave brought family members and a good time was had by all. A rain shower in the middle of the afternoon drove some away, Diane and her husband, Tony, and I remained and I made most of my best finds late in the day. Here's a few pics: Here is (left to right) Dave, Tim, Tony, and Dave's older son.