Who's going to Mazonia-Braidwood/Pit 11 Opening Day 3/1/20?

[connorp]

Looks like a good second day @deutscheben. Was the site near the cooling lakes as you mentioned?

 

My unfortunate IDNR encounter only left me with about an hour of hunting, but I did get around the Tipple area a bit on my second trip. I found quite a few already split but not well preserved plants there. The lack of trees allowed plenty of sunlight through, making them much easier to spot.

 

@bigred97 I had the same experience at Ponderosa my first day. Almost all my concretions came from a single spot that was particularly productive. I've found Ponderosa to be pretty hit or miss, it takes a while to find a good spot. That said, I really recommend it in the summer. For some reason there is a lot less vegetation there than in other areas

 

I also hiked the Monster Lake area the first day, but the sticky plants were unbearable. I would reach down for a concretion and come back up with dozens of tiny burs stuck to my gloves. I haven't spent much time there so I'm not sure if that it the norm for that area, but man it was really miserable.

[bigred97]

Oh my gosh @connorp you are talking about the burrs! They were truly awful. They got stuck everywhere, on my gloves, my pants, my jacket. Some got stuck to my socks and while I got most of them out they left behind little pieces that slid down into my hiking boots and caused a lot of irritation. I am still dealing with itchy ankles as a result. 

In some past years the thorns have really bothered me but this year it was the burrs, hands down. I hate them! haha

[deutscheben]

@connorp, yes one of the two sites was along the shore of Braidwood Lake. I almost gave up when after the long hike I got smacked hard with a branch right in the face, but I'm glad I persisted. I found this fern already split in the field, so I'm hopeful the other concretions will be productive. 

 

[deutscheben]

5 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Nice report @deutscheben! I was one of the other cars in the lot on Monday. I agree it was a nicer day for collecting. I actually thought Sunday was a little too warm for all the protective clothing I was wearing. I walked all the way around Ponderosa Lake on Monday, checking for new places to find concretions but I had very little luck. Around 1pm I was thinking the day would be a bust but then I found a nice little gully that was productive. Of course it will be weeks or months before I really know if it was a good day or not, from a fossil standpoint, but it was a beautiful day to be out in nature so I have no complaints either way. Chris

I'm glad you ended up finding a productive area! It's too bad we didn't cross paths. 

[connorp]

11 hours ago, deutscheben said:

@connorp, yes one of the two sites was along the shore of Braidwood Lake. I almost gave up when after the long hike I got smacked hard with a branch right in the face, but I'm glad I persisted. I found this fern already split in the field, so I'm hopeful the other concretions will be productive. 

 

That's a pretty nice fern to find already split at Pit 11!

[Monica]

It sounds as though you had a nice couple of days of fossil-hunting.  Congratulations on the concretions - I hope there's some good stuff inside of them!

 

That already-opened fern looks great!  It has beautiful colours.

 

And here's my attempt to find the concretions in your picture, Ben - I have my guesses circled in red in the photo below:

[bigred97]

@deutscheben yes it's too bad we never saw each other. The only people I saw all day were a couple that I believed were hikers.

 

@connorp that is a nice one to find opened! I always feel better when I'm collecting in an area that is new to me when I find some opened ones that have some type of fossil inside.

[deutscheben]

4 hours ago, Monica said:

It sounds as though you had a nice couple of days of fossil-hunting.  Congratulations on the concretions - I hope there's some good stuff inside of them!

 

That already-opened fern looks great!  It has beautiful colours.

 

And here's my attempt to find the concretions in your picture, Ben - I have my guesses circled in red in the photo below:

Thanks, Monica! And well-spotted, those are indeed the two concretions in the picture. 

[deutscheben]

11 hours ago, connorp said:

That's a pretty nice fern to find already split at Pit 11!

Thanks @connorp! I was very happy to come across it, it gives me a boost of morale finding split concretions with something in them in an area I'm searching, since it hopefully means my unopened finds from the spot will be not all be duds. 

 

I found a small handful of other split ones, including a few partial shrimp, a Neuropteris-type fern, and a mystery one I will be posting in the ID section. I will post pictures of the rest here when I have the chance. 

 

Anyone else who was out at Pit 11 for opening day/days should feel free to post their pics here too, I love seeing what everyone else has found. 

[deutscheben]

Here are a few of the other already split concretions I collected. First an individual Neuropteris leaf. 

 

 

Next up are two shrimp of some sort, both fairly squashed- the first one split when I dropped it in the bucket, so I have both sides. You can see the fairly defined abdominal segments in the top center, but the front part (bottom) is pretty exploded, so I'm not sure what to ID it as. 

 

 

Here is the second shrimp- the head is pointing to the right.

 

[bigred97]

I didn't find anything spectacular that was already opened, but here are the things I found:

 

Of course, I found some opened jellyfish, Essexella asherae:

[bigred97]

I believe this is Calamites, with an internode.

Here's a small fern:

I'm guessing some sort of plant material:

[bigred97]

I can't tell for sure what this is, but perhaps a leaf of Sphenophyllum (maybe majus)? I found this opened, in 2 separate halves:

Some sort of plant material, perhaps. Or maybe just a mineralization? - 

[bigred97]

This one is unknown, I wonder if it was a clam of some sort?

I think this is a shrimp, but I'm not good at identifying those. Perhaps Belotelson magister?

Finally, I think this would have been a very nice shrimp if it had not been already opened. It reminds me of a spectacular one @stats found recently. But this one only seems to have the tail preserved somewhat decently. Acanthotelson stimpsoni, perhaps?

[deutscheben]

Thanks for sharing! I really like that Calamites and the first shrimp.

[bigred97]

Thanks, @deutscheben, I really like those, too. I wish the shrimp would not have been split, I think it would have been really good. And I don't have any really good shrimp, it's something I'm  hoping I find some day. Who knows? Maybe I did, and it's soaking in my basement right now!

[Mark Kmiecik]

Good finds. I have been enjoying the show. Keep 'em coming.

[connorp]

Pretty good for already split stuff @bigred97!

[Rob Russell]

Great stuff guys!  It’s always nice finding the open fossils while out looking for concretions. Instant gratification is always a plus.   

 

Heres a few really bad pictures just as a little tease. I’ll take pics of some them individually when I can get out in the natural light. 

Theres some worms, shrimp, several plant species, two Tully partials, some essexella’s, etc. 

Ive been out there three times, and these represent those three trips. Along with about 4/5 of a five gal bucket of unopened nods. It’s been four years since I’ve collected out there due to overwhelming business obligations. 

Looks like I’m back in the game.   

 

 

[bigred97]

Some real interesting ones in there, @Rob Russell! Looking forward to seeing more detail. And good luck with the freeze/thawing! I'm probably getting some of mine into the freezer for the first time this weekend. Chris

[deutscheben]

On 3/10/2020 at 9:02 PM, Rob Russell said:

Great stuff guys!  It’s always nice finding the open fossils while out looking for concretions. Instant gratification is always a plus.   

 

Heres a few really bad pictures just as a little tease. I’ll take pics of some them individually when I can get out in the natural light. 

Theres some worms, shrimp, several plant species, two Tully partials, some essexella’s, etc. 

Ive been out there three times, and these represent those three trips. Along with about 4/5 of a five gal bucket of unopened nods. It’s been four years since I’ve collected out there due to overwhelming business obligations. 

Looks like I’m back in the game.   

 

 

 

 

I look forward to seeing all of your finds, looks like you have some good stuff there. You are definitely back in the game! (I have only been able to go to the park 3 times in the last 3 years, so you have caught up to me in that period already) 

[Rob Russell]

16 hours ago, deutscheben said:

I look forward to seeing all of your finds, looks like you have some good stuff there. You are definitely back in the game! (I have only been able to go to the park 3 times in the last 3 years, so you have caught up to me in that period already) 

I’m hoping to get back out again this weekend. Most likely Sunday morning. I offered the option to work Saturday to my employees this morning, and of course they took it. BUMMER! lol.  So Sunday bright and early it’ll be, for me. I’ve caught Tully fever, once again!    I’m looking forward to dewinterizing my boat, and utilizing it down there this year. Somehow hunting the bald tipple pile in the middle of the big lake sounds much more appealing than wrestling with ticks in the south unit!

[bigred97]

So I just heard that the Illinois governor has issued a shelter in place order for the entire state. You can still go to work, out for medical supplies or food or gasoline, to medical appointments, or to walk your dog. In the same article the governor was quoted as saying that there is not enough manpower to generally enforce the order. I was planning to go to Pit 11 on Monday. So I thought I could still just drive there and not stop along the way and probably be fine. There are few places better for social distancing than Pit 11! But later in the article it said that state parks are also closed. Which I believe would include the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area. So now I'm thinking my trip is canceled. Any thoughts? I'm going to be sad if my time at Pit 11 is over for the year, hopefully things settle down before the area is overrun by ticks and vegetation. 

[bigred97]

Update - I called the office number and there was a message saying the entire area is temporarily closed. It also said the office will be closed for an extended time. 

 

I looked at the Illinois DNR website for the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area and there is a link on the page that brings you to all the parks that have closed in the state, and this area is not listed. But I assume that page is probably just not updated yet.

[connorp]

@bigred97 From another thread:

Quote

For all those that collect in Illinois all state parks are closed.  This mean collecting of concretions in the pit 11 area is for now not permitted.  Gates are locked and No Trespassing signs have been posted in most parking areas.

So we're definitely not able to go to Pit 11 for now. I'm wondering if hunting roadcuts would be considered "outdoor activities" under the shelter in place order...