taj Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 First sunny day of the week . Wife and kids getting slowly crazy while I have to deal with a higher than average workload from home. Hum ...time to steal a few hours with the two oldest ones and get back to the Nicollet Fm (ordovician ) nearby. This time Flexys did not make the cut , or none did with all parts intact ( except maybe one found by my eldest) . This Triarthrus Rougensis made my day though , the best (by far ) I found so far . Followed by another promising one later .2 and a half hours well spent! PS: wow , just noticed this is my first post since landing here ! Time flies faster and faster .. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Nice finds! 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityDweller Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 That’s cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruger9a Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 What better thing to do on a beautiful day like that? And it appears it was a productive as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Very nice! Where abouts is the Nicollet Fm exposed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Good find, bien a vous! I miss collecting those deepwater olenidae, and the smell of that dark shale when freshly split! That's a lovely specimen. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Beautiful bugs! Congrats on a successful hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Nice trilos, Congratulations! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Very nice Triarthrus. Complete ones like that are a rare thing no matter where you look. Congratulations. Is that the old quarry site in LaPrairie? Looks familiar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 Thanks!. I have been stomping there daily for almost 3 years . Every time I started seriously looking for fossils , I have been disappointed . Thanks to the COVID though , and based on a few discussions with other fossil hunters I met during my daily jogs, I finally paid some serious attention to the site and it paid off. That's a very nice place to enjoy fresh air when parks in Montreal downtown are pretty (over)crowded. So much safer also !! Now the sad part is that quarry ceased operations at least a year ago , has been sold , and will soon become a housing lot . Huge landscaping needed before that , of course , which is currently on hold due to COVID , but not so far in the future only uppermost layers will be accessible ( with any luck ) Quote the smell of that dark shale when freshly split! Sure ! , and then the smell of crazy glue before these bugs disintegrate before your eyes .This stuff is incredibly brittle . Never seen anything quite like this . NB : and my son did find the only intact flexy in a refuse pile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 9 hours ago, Wrangellian said: Very nice! Where abouts is the Nicollet Fm exposed? South shore of Montreal , to start with .Any civil work , housing lot , or even small dig is likely to bring it up to light . But it is sooo frail , lifetime of exposed slabs measures in hours . And of course the former Hanson /Forterra Quarry . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Nice ones. Congrats! Please show them again when cleaned up. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 The big Triarthrus is going to remain "as is" . I was lucky enough to pull it out intact . The counterpart was in a slab big enough , but the actual bug came out on a flake . So no prep except some crazy glue on the underside for consolidation.As for the other ones found so far , including some decent Flexys , well , prep will be a very delicate process. It will have to wait for tools I use at the club . Unfortunately the club is going to be closed until september ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 7 hours ago, taj said: South shore of Montreal , to start with .Any civil work , housing lot , or even small dig is likely to bring it up to light . But it is sooo frail , lifetime of exposed slabs measures in hours . And of course the former Hanson /Forterra Quarry . Oh, wow. You mean it crumbles on exposure to air? That's worse than my local Cretaceous shale. Actually your shale looks exactly like mine.. so now you know what I have to deal with - except that you're finding trilobites in yours! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 On 4/19/2020 at 11:24 PM, Wrangellian said: Oh, wow. You mean it crumbles on exposure to air? That's worse than my local Cretaceous shale. Actually your shale looks exactly like mine.. so now you know what I have to deal with - except that you're finding trilobites in yours! Yep . It is quite damp, so once exposed it starts to dry up and flake . Some chunks are bigger than others , but vibrations from digging are also adding to the stress . Actually I even used the damp/dry technique to fine-prepare some bits at home . Works well for flaking out some shale from the fossil . Of course you have to be ready to jump in with your glue ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Sounds quite tricky. I have enough trouble with the shale over here, I don't need it to flake away upon drying also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Beautiful Triarthus! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Beautiful day Yesterday . Was able to snatch a couple hours by the end of the afternoon . Very odd. Split-split-split-split-(nothing)-trilos -trilos-trilos-Split-split-split-split-(nothing). Almost all the finds concentrated on a 10 mn span over these 2 hours ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDave Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) I have the same experience, but mine is usually split-trilo-split-split-split-split-split-trilo-split For some time, the majority of my (“keeper”)finds are either in the first few minutes or last few minutes of several hours of effort. I now expect the pattern when I fossil hunt and consider it a Murphy’s Law of fossil hunting...(sigh) Nice Triarthus!! Edited April 25, 2020 by DrDave Forgot something 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Quote For some time, the majority of my (“keeper”)finds are either in the first few minutes or last few minutes of several hours of effort. That's my usual pattern also !I might add that many of my best finds belong from that part of the trip when I decided to stretch the limits ( just a little further than , just a few more minutes than ...) So I was somewhat bemused by this new one , but well in the end only the final count will matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 2 more biggies last wednesday . Not even sure they are the same species of Flexys . Currently trying to prep this one with water , let's see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 That trilo looks great - best of luck with the prep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Thanks Monica ! I can only try the slightest prep for these beauties . Waay to frail . Have to wait for the club to reopen to access their tools , Unfortunately not before september . Which is very wise since a good deal of the permanent people are spot on the worst age range for this (%%(**! virus . Can't wait for the intra provincial restrictions to be lifted though , fresh air from the Neuville fm will be most welcome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taj Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 Here is a partial result . ( Sorry for the poor light in the pictures ). This is only so far as I will dare to go for now . The finishing touch will come with a light air abrader touch (not before september though)which should reveal nice details and colours of the exosqueleton . Note that the latest Flexy popped up , already free of matrix and quite solid , at the most unexpected of times ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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