Took a trip today.

[Darktooth]

Today I decided it was time to get out of the house and some fresh air. I took my two youngest boys to the town of Chittenango. We visited Chittenango Creek which is a popular fishing spot as well as Chittango falls state park. While I wasn't planning on a fossil hunt, we did stop at a roadcut that I have driven by many times. It turns out that it appears to hold some goodies despite the fact that the shale is very fragile. While we were there we were also able to enjoy some of nature's living gems as well.

[Darktooth]

[Darktooth]

[Darktooth]

[Darktooth]

Some critters that kept us company.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Great photos, Dave, I'm glad you managed to get our for a bit.

Love the Mucrospirifers. 

I rather adore that salamander too! 

[Darktooth]

7 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Great photos, Dave, I'm glad you managed to get our for a bit.

Love the Mucrospirifers. 

I rather adore that salamnder too! 

Thanks Adam I have a couple other items that I need to take pics of after I get them cleaned up. The Mucrospirifers were very abundant there. I was hoping to find a trilobite but no luck during this trip.

[fossilsonwheels]

Interesting snake. I am not familiar east coast snakes, all my work was with California herps. Is that Storeria dekayi  (Dekays Brown Snake) ? I agree with Adam on the Salamander too. Cute little thing.

 

Also nice fossil finds since this is TFF lol

[Darktooth]

2 minutes ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Interesting snake. I am not familiar east coast snakes, all my work was with California herps. Is that Storeria dekayi  (Dekays Brown Snake) ? I agree with Adam on the Salamander too. Cute little thing.

 

Also nice fossil finds since this is TFF lol

I believe this is a species of Garter snake but I could be wrong. It was nice getting out today, I might try to get out to Cole Hill tomorrow. Dipluera dekayi are singing their Siren song.

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Darktooth said:

I believe this is a species of Garter snake but I could be wrong. It was nice getting out today, I might try to get out to Cole Hill tomorrow. Dipluera dekayi are singing their Siren song.

Good Luck with the trilos, but finding more brachs like those, i'd be well chuffed. 

[Monica]

Nice finds, Dave!  Is that a chunk of orthoconic nautiloid that I see??? 

[PODIGGER]

Nice finds and colorful critters! Congrats.

[Darktooth]

52 minutes ago, Monica said:

Nice finds, Dave!  Is that a chunk of orthoconic nautiloid that I see??? 

 

1 hour ago, Darktooth said:

Yes Monica, I found a couple nautiloids but this one had part of the phragmacone attached. I have only found a couple like this before. I am going to attempt to expose more of this if I can.

[Darktooth]

Here is a sign located at the Chittenango State Park.

[Peat Burns]

3 hours ago, Darktooth said:

 

Love the Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi), Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), and the tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata?), too!

[Darktooth]

Thanks Tony, I think I enjoyed the living finds more than the non- living ones, today.

[Peat Burns]

1 minute ago, Darktooth said:

Thanks Tony, I think I enjoyed the living finds more than the non- living ones, today.

I haven't been able to get out much. We got 6 inches of snow yesterday.  Mowed the lawn last week. Shoveled snow this week... It was nice to get out vicariously via your pics.  I have found those tiger beetle elytra in late-Pleistocene and Holocene peat cores, and they retain that beautiful iridescent green color despite their age 

[RandyB]

Love the critter pics Dave, congrats on being able to get out and have some fun with the boys. Glad you had some luck at a new spot.

[Darktooth]

10 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

I haven't been able to get out much. We got 6 inches of snow yesterday.  Mowed the lawn last week. Shoveled snow this week... It was nice to get out vicariously via your pics.  I have found those tiger beetle elytra in late-Pleistocene and Holocene peat cores, and they retain that beautiful iridescent green color despite their age 

We have not got out much ourselves. An occasional walk, hike, or fishing excursion. Today was enjoyable though short.

[Darktooth]

3 minutes ago, RandyB said:

Love the critter pics Dave, congrats on being able to get out and have some fun with the boys. Glad you had some luck at a new spot.

Thanks Randy, I have driven by this road cut many times. I dont know why I hadn't stopped sooner.

[Fossildude19]

Glad you were able to get out, Dave!

Great finds, as always.  

Thanks for posting them.

[Kane]

A fine outing with some (intact!) fossils, nature, and the glorious sounds/smells of spring. A well-deserved, and rewarded, break from the Q-zone.  You'll have to go back at some point of course. Perhaps the shale is less fragile deeper in where it is not as exposed?

[Al Dente]

14 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Some critters that kept us company.

This is the Red-backed salamander. Studies have shown that the biomass of Red-backed salamanders in the NE US is greater than the combined mass of large mammals and birds combined. There are about 3 million individuals per square kilometer. Most people never see them because they stay hidden. Here’s an online article about them-https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/essential-ubiquity-how-one-tiny-salamander-species-has-a-huge-impact/

[Darktooth]

1 hour ago, Kane said:

A fine outing with some (intact!) fossils, nature, and the glorious sounds/smells of spring. A well-deserved, and rewarded, break from the Q-zone.  You'll have to go back at some point of course. Perhaps the shale is less fragile deeper in where it is not as exposed?

There are a couple problems with probing this site. First it if very close to the road. Just enough room to pull over. This roadcut is the side of a high cliff face. The entire surface is similar to DSR. Plus it is steep. I think we were safe enough pawing through with our hands, but not to sure about all out digging with tools.

[Darktooth]

1 hour ago, Al Dente said:

This is the Red-backed salamander. Studies have shown that the biomass of Red-backed salamanders in the NE US is greater than the combined mass of large mammals and birds combined. There are about 3 million individuals per square kilometer. Most people never see them because they stay hidden. Here’s an online article about them-https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/essential-ubiquity-how-one-tiny-salamander-species-has-a-huge-impact/

This is interesting to know. I will say that they are probably the most common salamander to find here in New York. If one looks, you can find them virtually everywhere you go in the state. Usually under logs or rocks. When I was a kid I was an animal lover, but I was really into reptiles and amphibians. I was always on the lookout for snakes, turtles, frogs, and salamanders.