Forum Meetup On Nowadaga Creek, Ny 9/20/14

[Jeffrey P]

A number of Forum members; Dave, (Shamalama), Carmine (xonemine), Mike (Pagurus), and Tim (Fossildude 19) and Tim's son, Aiden, met up Saturday at Nowadaga Creek near Little Falls, NY, in Herkimer County. Tim organized it. It was a wonderfuland successful gathering: Dave showed off some recent finds from Madison County, NY he collected the day before. Tim brought the complete fish fossil he found the week before. We collected fossils in outcroppings along the stream, (Utica Shale- Upper Ordovician). The graptolite, Didymograptus and cephalons of the trilobite, Triarthrus becki were prolific in the rock. Bodies (thorax/pygidium pieces) were far less abundant. Carmine arrived late (GPS failed and he got lost) but found by far the most trilo bodies of anyone. In addition to graptolites and trilobites, a few small straight-shelled nautiloids, a few bivalves and a couple coiled shells (gastropods/coiled nautiloids?) were also found. Everyone did well and a great time was had by all. Aiden's bivalve find and his coiled shell, were perhaps the highlights of the day, but getting the opportunity collect with other Forum members was definitely the highlight and made it all so worthwhile.

This is Mike and Dave in this shot and some of Carmine's finds.

[Jeffrey P]

Some more photos:

Mike, Dave, Aidan, Tim, and Carmine and Aidan and Tim.

[Jeffrey P]

Finally, one of my Triarthrus becki finds. Found it just lying on the ground. I asked Carmine who it belonged to and he said, "I guess you."

[Pagurus]

Thanks for that flattering shot of me in your first photo, Jeff. It was great to collect with you and all the others. I'm looking forward to getting together again. My wife was disappointed, though, that the forum members didn't have a secret handshake.

Mike

[kauffy]

Looks like a great site and a fun day!

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Looks like a splendid time was had by one and all.

[Fossildude19]

Thank you, Jeff, for starting this thread.

It was a great day and a terrific site.

I enjoyed meeting Dave for the first time in person, and hunting with all the others I have met in the past.

I think everyone had a great time, with lots of fossils found.

I was very surprised with the wealth of fossil trilobites here - considering last year's dearth of Trilobites at the other end of the Road.

Despite a long and winding detour to reach our destination, Aidan and I arrived around 8:35 am.

Traffic was light, and the wildlife sightings were plentiful.

Deer, flocks of Turkey, hawks, and other critters were present throughout the trip up to Little Falls.

Dave showed up about 5 minutes later, and we spent some time talking about his previous day's trip. Dave kindly showed us many of his finds, and we were suitably impressed.

Mike and his wife arrived next, with Jeff showing up fairly close behind. Unbeknownst to us, Carmine was a bit turned around, and lack of cell service in the immediate vicinity prevented him from getting helpful hints from us. He showed up about 15 minutes later.

We got to hunting after a bit, and started finding things right away, - Cephalons and pygidiums were fairly common finds, and we had to pick and choose our keepers, based on quality.

My son Aidan was the first to find a complete trilo. Mike graciously took some pictures of the find and proud owner for me.

Unfortunately, there is a small piece of the other side missing, as it went flying when the rock split.

Here I am, looking for it....

Wasn't able to find it, though.

Carmine and Dave settled down, and started removing layers of shale and overburden like the season shale splitters they are. I think Carmine may be the Winner of the John Henry Rock Removing Award for the day, though. The piles of shale where he and Dave were working were quite impressive

They started discarding full bodied trilos missing their heads, that were not as well preserved as their stellar finds. The Keeper piles were impressive as well.

We spent the entire day spliiting rock. Cephalopods, graptolites, trilobites, trilo-bits, were the main finds.

Aidan went off exploring on his own, and found a few neat things.

An unknown, rare pelecypod:

and a fairly well preserved ammonoid:

I eventually went looking for him, and found a decent trilobite or two:

 

 

 

Breaks were taken as removing shale and splitting it were arduous tasks.

The weather started out cloudy, but quickly cleared, got warm, then windy, and cool. It was perfect for hunting.

The picturesque scene was thrilling when combined with the enthusiasm of the hunters.

The end of the day quickly arrived aound 3;30 to 4:00, and people started to pack up their finds and get moving. We talked for a bit with the others, and got moving.

We got on our way after saying goodbye, and were home in a little under 3.5 hours.

All in all, a very successful Forum Outing. Thanks to all who were able to attend - it was a blast.

I will add more finds as I get them cleaned up.

Regards,

[squalicorax]

Excellent finds everyone. Looks like a great time!

[Auspex]

With an All-Star group like that, the fossils hardly stood a chance!

Wonderful stuff, guys

[Shamalama]

It was a great trip and with some wonderful people, most of whom I had not met in person before! Mike (pagurus) and Carmine (xonenine) have a very patient spouse/girlfriend respectively. They hung out all day and just watched are we made ourselves dirty and tired. Tim's son, Aiden, was pretty cool and a good collector. Needs a few more collecting seasons under his belt to remember that jeans and shoes are not just fashion choices but also safety gear.

Thanks to Tim for organizing. My shale splitting technique is straight from Mikey Migs, I'm just in the process of refining it.

A view of the working creek before work commenced.

Carmine hard at work impressing his girlfriend by splitting the shale with his bare hands!

My work area on the right, with the resultant shale pile on the left. The two soda flats on the right held my finds for the day and became even more loaded by the time we left.

One of my reject piles

A nice partial with all but the glabella.

And some finds.... Graptolites

My best Cephalopod

More to come if the light holds out tomorrow evening!

[Shamalama]

oops, forgot these pics of my finds:

A large partial cephalon that is just missing the free cheeks. These were a dime a dozen but I kept quite a few for trades and gifts for kids.

A couple of 'eadless bodies looking as though the mob had buried them personally!

Two of my best trilos of the day... I have both sides to each and just need to find someone to glue them together and prep them so I have truly whole specimens!

This one is a little over two inches long

this one is a little less than two inches long

[Jeffrey P]

Tim and Dave;

Thanks Tim and Dave for adding your narrative and great photos to this thread. Tim, as I said, your son, Aiden's mollusk finds were, in my view, the catch of the day. Dave, your nautiloid was as good as any I've seen from there and I also liked your graptolites and Triarthrus body parts. Thanks for posting these and again, great collecting with yuz.

[xonenine]

it really was a day of days - great weather, old and new friends, and some very agreeable shale to split. The dark shale made the light ghostly trilobites look even more ethereal, the many graptolites I brought home will bear further examination, as well as a few odds and ends. Yes, I will take photos and I will go back this year if possible, in several weeks...

thanks to Tim, Jeffrey, Mike, Leila, Dave, Aidan, and Michelle

[JimB88]

looked like an awesome trip!

[Pagurus]

I know this thread is nearly a week old (oh, the horror) but I did want to post a couple of my finds. One of my favorites is either a gastropod or ammonoid (I'm leaning toward the latter):

Along with lots of cephalons and a few nice triarthrus "bodies" I found (and I think we all did) some tiny brachiopods, about 2mm in diameter. I took a few photos under my cheap digital microscope. I have no idea what they are, but I haven't done much research to find out. The photos probably aren't sharp enough to get a good ID, but at least they look a liitle better than a 2mm spot looks like with the naked eye.

Thanks for looking,

Mike

[Fossildude19]

I know this thread is nearly a week old (oh, the horror) but I did want to post a couple of my finds. One of my favorites is either a gastropod or ammonoid (I'm leaning toward the latter):

...

Thanks for looking,

Mike

Mike,

I think it is the ammonoid Trochlites sp. I found one similar last year at the other end of Nowadaga creek, and it was ID'd as such by FossilDawg.

Nice one, for sure,... just wish the preservation was a bit better on these.

Your little brachs are cool too.

Thanks for posting and adding to the trip report.

Regards,

[xonenine]

very nice Mike,

I found a few of the small Brachiopods also, they show up nicely with a 30x loupe, I'll try to get a few pictures up Sunday too

[Ludwigia]

Oops! Missed this thread first time out. Nice to see that you guys and your families got together. My experience has been that it makes for a wonderful time when forum members meet and get active and this report just goes to show again that this is more than true. Nice finds, everybody!

[Shamalama]

I think the tiny Brachs are either juvenile Lingula or possibly Schizocrania in my opinion. I'm leaning more towards Lingula as the peak of the valve is near what appears to be a hinge line while in Schizocrania the beak is more centered. I found lots of them too.... notably with the Graptolites.

[jcbshark]

Great pics and finds, Congrats!

[xonenine]

another shot of one of my favorites

[Scylla]

Sorry I missed this thread until now. Even sorrier I missed the trip! I'm so happy you all did so well. I love those triarthrus. Keep the pictures coming, at least we can all get the vicarious thrill of the hunt

[Fossildude19]

Sorry I missed this thread until now. Even sorrier I missed the trip! I'm so happy you all did so well. I love those triarthrus. Keep the pictures coming, at least we can all get the vicarious thrill of the hunt

We missed seeing you and the boys too, Gus! Wish y'all could have been there.

It was a fantastic trip.

I will try to take a few more pics of my finds.

Regards,

[Nandomas]

Posting these pictures on tff is forcing me to sell faster the rest of my business and retire in Us ... Please STOP it

[6ix]

Wow - even the discards look incredible!! Great trip.