Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Today was the late Summer ESCONI Braceville Shaftmine collecting trip. Well it was the first day, tomorrow will be the second day of the outing. Today’s trip ran from 9 am - 3 pm. I arrived early and unpacked my car. I try to bring a number of fossils that are dumped out for the participants to go through around noon time. Today I brought a potpourri of fossils that included a bunch of opened Mazon Creek fossils, Pleistocene/Pliocene shells from Florida, Oligocene mammal fossils from South Dakota, Cretaceous Pierre Shale ammonite / bivalves from South Dakota, Mississippian fossils from Vienna, Illinois, Pennsylvanian brachiopods from Oglesby, Illinois, Ordovician fossils from Southern Indiana and Kentucky, Shark teeth and mammoth ivory pieces from Florida, petrified wood from Arizona, cephalopods from Graf, Iowa, Carboniferous fossils from Catlin, Illinois and other fossils. I believe that there were between 40-50 participants. I only stayed around until 10 am, due to prior commitments, but I wanted to bring fossils to dump. There were several Forum members present, including @stats , @deutscheben , @connorp and others, hopefully Rich can add them. Prior to the start collecting , row call and rules are gone over. After that is taken care of most participants walk the 1/4 mile to the Shaftmine spoil pile, while others hang around and learn about fossil collecting at the site and what to look for. There are also Jack’s @fiddlehead books available for purchase. Then it is off to the collecting site for the others. Here are various pictures of the collectors doing their thing. More pictures to follow- 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 This is always great fun for the collectors and hopefully the weather holds out for tomorrow, but rain is in the forecast. The trip goes on either way. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meganeura Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Looks like an awesome day! And wow, that's a whole lot of fossils you brought! I bet people were absolutely ecstatic! 1 Fossils? I dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 13 minutes ago, Meganeura said: Looks like an awesome day! And wow, that's a whole lot of fossils you brought! I bet people were absolutely ecstatic! Yeah, that's more of an assortment of fossils than some dealers take to a show. Wow. I see some people brought buckets. Was that just for Ralph's stuff? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meganeura Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 3 minutes ago, siteseer said: Yeah, that's more of an assortment of fossils than some dealers take to a show. Wow. I see some people brought buckets. Was that just for Ralph's stuff? Knowing Ralph it's all high quality stuff too - I'm sure we've all seen the things he says are going to this trip that look beautiful. 1 1 Fossils? I dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 10 minutes ago, Meganeura said: Knowing Ralph it's all high quality stuff too - I'm sure we've all seen the things he says are going to this trip that look beautiful. Yeah, it might be a good idea to drive by his house and see what he leaves out front on the curb. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Loads and loads of excellent photos as always, Ralph. And thank you for being so generous. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 @siteseer and @Meganeura I failed to mention that I’m not the only one that brings buckets east of Fossils to distribute to the participants, others do as well. I do like to bring Fossils from different time periods because it made the expressway Chicago open an avenue for a new collector to see things that could be found in other locations. Today there was a young kid who found a concretion that contained a bivalve, but he thought it was a shark tooth. I knew that I had brought a bag of small shark teeth and I search for them and handed them to his mother, needless to say, but the young man was very happy. I plan on going tomorrow morning and dropping off two more 5 gallon buckets full of Mazon Creek concretions for the next group that will arrive. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 12 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Loads and loads of excellent photos as always, Ralph. And thank you for being so generous. Thanks for the nice comments Adam. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meganeura Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 1 minute ago, Nimravis said: @siteseer and @Meganeura I failed to mention that I’m not the only one that brings buckets east of Fossils to distribute to the participants, others do as well. I do like to bring Fossils from different time periods because it made the expressway Chicago open an avenue for a new collector to see things that could be found in other locations. Today there was a young kid who found a concretion that contained a bivalve, but he thought it was a shark tooth. I knew that I had brought a bag of small shark teeth and I search for them and handed them to his mother, needless to say, but the young man was very happy. I plan on going tomorrow morning and dropping off two more 5 gallon buckets full of Mazon Creek concretions for the next group that will arrive. Doesn't change the fact that we're betting your the star of the show, Ralph - I can only say how excited I was when you gave me a couple MC ferns when we met - I can't imagine how much MORE excited I would've been had I been 10 and getting fossils for the first time! Fossils? I dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 10, 2022 Author Share Posted September 10, 2022 4 minutes ago, Meganeura said: can't imagine how much MORE excited I would've been had I been 10 and getting fossils for the first time! And that’s what it’s all about Daniel, the perpetuation of the hobby through the youngsters. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stats Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 Thanks for the contributions, Ralph! We have 4 regular contributors to the fossil dump or pour. Ralph, Andrew Young, Keith Robitschek @Roby, and myself. There are a few others that have occasionally brought fossil material, Connor Puritz @connorp, Chris Berg @bigred97, and a few others. It's become a tradition at the Braceville field trips. Here are a few videos from yesterday. https://photos.app.goo.gl/GxpJznRMh7M2eJmv5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/MM4V6xHXS9t92kXy8 Cheers, Rich 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 11, 2022 Author Share Posted September 11, 2022 @stats Rich, thanks for the added info and videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguy Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 thank you for this report, Ralph, it is interesting to see how people collect concretions in the field, and of course the joy of sharing the activity in a friendly group is paramount, as well as learning and harvesting. Congratulations also for your generosity and this distribution of fossils (I did the same thing yesterday, and my day was filled with happiness by the smiles of children receiving as a gift a simple fish coprolite, an ammonite or another fossil) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 Looks like this group is having a wonderful time. Thanks for the great photos and report. Love to get out there sometime. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 19 hours ago, Nimravis said: If you never saw this photo before and I told you it was Illinois . . . 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 Thanks for the post, it was a great day! I can't say I pulled too many concretions, but it was wonderful seeing everyone and getting outside. There were wildflowers growing all around the hill and plenty of butterflies and dragonflies in the air as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted September 29, 2022 Share Posted September 29, 2022 (edited) First concretion from the trip opened - a very nice Essexella jellyfish. Edited September 29, 2022 by connorp 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted September 29, 2022 Author Share Posted September 29, 2022 14 minutes ago, connorp said: First concretion from the trip opened - a very nice Essexella jellyfish. You Connor- that one is beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper559 Posted September 29, 2022 Share Posted September 29, 2022 Very Nice Connor ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted September 29, 2022 Share Posted September 29, 2022 That's a strange-looking Essexella. Could it possibly be a different jelly? Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper559 Posted September 29, 2022 Share Posted September 29, 2022 2 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said: That's a strange-looking Essexella. Could it possibly be a different jelly? Mark, the preservation at the Braceville spoil pile is a bit different then the jellies at pit #11 I have several from here with similar preservation. I like it !! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 1, 2022 Share Posted October 1, 2022 Today I finally got around to sorting and tidying up my concretions from the two Braceville trips this year, and I came across some already split ones. First a very typical Essexella: Then a not-so-typical one, this was the first time I’ve seen one with this configuration: I also came across this neat concretion with a Myalinella meeki and some other kind of bivalve exposed: This next Myalinella had me fooled for a second, I thought it might be a shark tooth. As I prepped it out, I realized it was a shell instead, but still an interesting one- poking out of the concretion and preserved fairly inflated. Next is, I think, my first gastropod from Mazon Creek. I’m not certain on what the ID would be, but it’s an exciting find for me. Finally, this last piece has got me stumped. It is something kind of blobby, but it also has some distinctive raised ridges and what seem to be more solid structures. Chances are it is probably a very unusually preserved Essexella but I would love to hear what others think: I won’t be able to start freeze-thawing for a few more months at the earliest, so the rest of my finds will have to wait! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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