Mazonia-Braidwood (Pit 11) Opening Day 3/1/23

[deutscheben]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of getting out for one of the nicest opening days of the fossil hunting season at Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area that I’ve experienced. The sun was shining, the ground was relatively dry and temps were in the 40s-50s. And I only encountered 1 tick! 
 

I ran into a few other collectors over the course of the day, including @connorp. The park was mostly quiet as usual, with the sounds of birds and passing cars nearby, as well as the distant rumble of trains and planes. 

My hunting area for this trip was south of Monster Lake- after getting nearly skunked when it came to interesting fossils the last two years I wanted to go back to a site that had given me more success in the past. It’s about a one mile hike to get down to the collecting area, although I was able to pick up a few concretions on the way there.

 

 

I’ve been using an 8 inch wide plastic rake the last few trips to clear leaves and litter from the ground and I have found it really effective. It’s a full length rake like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-60-in-handle-Collector-8-in-Poly-Shrub-Rake-2915900/204476248 so maneuvering it in the underbrush can be annoying sometimes, but since I’m already trying to fit a 6’3” frame through there it doesn’t make it notably more difficult to get around.

 

Here are a couple concretions in an area where I didn’t clear things up:

 

 

I didn’t find too many already split concretions- a few dirty plants I’ll share once I’ve had a chance to clean them up and some mystery things that may or may not prove to be anything (and one exciting find I will detail below). As usual, there were also plenty of split Essexella blobs to be found, but I didn’t bring any of those home.

 

 

Towards the end of the day, I found myself at the base of a small hill that was veritably covered in both split and unsplit concretions. At first I thought it might have been a dump pile from a collector back in the day, but the number of unopened smaller concretions made me question that, as well as the next find I made- a very partial Tullimonstrum gregarium! 
 

 

It’s a wee one, but only the second example of our state fossil that I’ve found. 
 

Here is a wider shot of the hill where I found it:

 

 

By this time I was starting to get pretty sore, so I decided to head back. I ended up with around 2 gallons of concretions, a pretty average day at Pit 11 for me. Here is my bucket at the end of the day:

 

 

 

I’ve got about 10 gallons of other concretions in the queue ahead of these, so it may be a while before I start freezing and thawing them, but I will work on getting them cleaned up and ready to go in the meantime. 
 

As @Mark Kmiecik famously said about hunting Pit 11,  I left “bruised and abused and grinning from ear to ear”. It’s a tough experience, but you can count on me keeping at it as long as I can. 
 

Anybody else planning to make it out to the park this week? 

[connorp]

Nice Tully!

[automech]

Just curious. What do you hope to find from these? 

[Tales From the Shale]

I might have to get out there again, first trip I got lost in the woods. But now that I have a better map I might just have to see if this Pit 11 holds up to the hype >:)

[deutscheben]

24 minutes ago, automech said:

Just curious. What do you hope to find from these? 

 

For a good overview of what can be found in Mazon Creek concretions (including some spectacular and rare specimens that would be dream finds!), have a look at @Nimravis's thread here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/124713-mazon-creek-collection-purchased/

[automech]

That is absolutely amazing. So, each one of those concretions you picked up would/should have something in it? 

[Adam86cucv]

16 minutes ago, automech said:

That is absolutely amazing. So, each one of those concretions you picked up would/should have something in it? 

I believe could have something is a better way to put it.  Here's another great topic by @Nimravis and his adventures cracking them open.

 

[deutscheben]

The percentage of concretions with something identifiable in them can vary greatly depending on where they are collected from (and your luck!). For example, I collected a similar number of concretions last year and all I found after processing were a small number of poorly preserved jellyfish. The more concretions you collect, the better your chances of finding something interesting, as well. 

[jpc]

I am having a hard time seeing a Tully monster in there... can we see some more pix.  

[deutscheben]

12 minutes ago, jpc said:

I am having a hard time seeing a Tully monster in there... can we see some more pix.  

 

Mazon Creek fossils are great for that! So many blobs and shapes and subtle color/texture variations in the matrix. Here is quick sketch of what part of the Tully this is: 

 

 

The overall shape and texture and the presence of the distinctive eye bar are what lead me to believe this is a Tully Monster. 

[jpc]

thanks. 

 

 

[automech]

Got it! Thanks!

[Mark Kmiecik]

A lot of non-Mazon collectors would probably love to have one of those "split Essexella blobs" you and other experienced MC collectors leave behind. You do realize how rare fossilized jellyfish are in the whole scheme of things, don't you? I, too, left many behind and in retrospect wish I had brought every one of them home. I'll bet if you offered to give them away you'ld have a line of people that went around the block -- maybe twice! I know for a fact that kids are absolutely fascinated by them. I've given dozens away.

[deutscheben]

Very true! I do feel lucky to be able to take a short trip to collect from such a significant and unique locale. My thought behind leaving them is that hopefully new collectors to Pit 11 will come across them and have something to bring home, since collecting can be so difficult.

[Nimravis]

Great trip report Ben and nice Tully portion.

 

I was not able to make it out this week and I was hoping someone was going to do a report. Thanks for being the first.

[deutscheben]

19 hours ago, Tales From the Shale said:

I might have to get out there again, first trip I got lost in the woods. But now that I have a better map I might just have to see if this Pit 11 holds up to the hype >:)

You should! Conditions are optimal now and with how warm this winter has been we may see it become overgrown even earlier than usual. 

[Nimravis]

5 minutes ago, deutscheben said:

You should! Conditions are optimal now and with how warm this winter has been we may see it become overgrown even earlier than usual. 

Though the snow we are supposed to get today will put a damper on the weekend.

[flipper559]

Nice report Ben !!

Great job finding the Tully !!!

 

Rock On !!

Phil

[deutscheben]

I washed off the already split fossils I collected, nothing spectacular but a few interesting pieces at least.

 

Here is the group shot:

 

 

I collected the big one on the off chance it was an Anthracomedusa, but after cleaning the dirt off I think it’s just a blobby Essexella. 
 

There are also a few small ferns, a couple Macroneuropteris, some woody/ Calamites stems, and a few other odd ones. 
 

This little bit of fern is kind of unusual, I’m not sure if it’s just very degraded/worn or what.

 

 

And the concretion in the back center has two small shelly fossils in it. I’m leaning towards identifying them as the branchiopod Pemphilimnadiopsis ortoni, although they are unusual in not being compressed. Unfortunately because of their small size and dimensionality they were hard to capture in photos.

 

 

 

[connorp]

I would agree with Pemphilimnadiopsis. I actually have found more uncompressed than compressed.