Our first-ever trip to Hungry Hollow!

[FossilDAWG]

Have a close look at those rugose corals, they often have amazing epibionts on them.  There are many species of bryozoans; I am particularly fond of the branching tubes of Hederella (you have a small colony on the Mucrospirifer) and the Botryllopora socialis.  Also spirobids (you have a couple on the same Mucrospirifer as the Hederella), and sometimes crinoid attachment structures.  A binocular or digital microscope is a great tool for exploring all the small critters to be found there, of which there are a vast number and huge diversity.

 

Don

[JohnBrewer]

20 hours ago, Monica said:

Hi John!

 

I'm pretty happy with what we collected, too - admittedly, we went a bit crazy with the rugose corals, but since I've only ever found one near where I live (and a squished one at that), I just couldn't help myself!  Is Violet still helping you collect fossils?

 

I hope that all is well - take care,

 

Monica

No we've not been out for ages with various things taking priority but we'll be out this year!

[digit]

Monica,

 

Thanks for posting your trip report. Can't tell who had more fun--you or Viola (I'm guessing it was a dead heat). Reminds me of the day we spend hunting the Ordovician up at the St. Leon road cut up in Indiana a while back. We don't get material that old down here in South Florida. Glad you both had fun--the mucky mud will probably make that trip all the more memorable for you two. I'm sure you'll both remember that trip fondly whenever you pass by your collection of horn corals be they in a bowl, a jar or displayed in a Riker mount or shadowbox. Glad to see Viola's childhood memories will include great experiences like this and not just attaining some high score on Candy Crush (or whatever game people are playing these days in their devices).

 

It warmed my heart seeing the smile on Viola's face. Your assignment for next trip is to remember the gloves and/or wipes so we can see more photos of Viola pointing to her finds in situ.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Monica]

21 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Have a close look at those rugose corals, they often have amazing epibionts on them.  There are many species of bryozoans; I am particularly fond of the branching tubes of Hederella (you have a small colony on the Mucrospirifer) and the Botryllopora socialis.  Also spirobids (you have a couple on the same Mucrospirifer as the Hederella), and sometimes crinoid attachment structures.  A binocular or digital microscope is a great tool for exploring all the small critters to be found there, of which there are a vast number and huge diversity.

 

Don

Hi Don!

 

I will definitely take a closer look at those horn corals.  I was told to look for the star-shaped bryozoan and, sure enough, I found it on a few of my specimens - I think they're beautiful!!!  And I've noticed other encrusting bryozoans, too - some in tiny patches and others covering a fairly large area.  I was also told to look for the ostracods - I remember learning about them in university (I think they're called "seed shrimp"?), but I've never thought to look for their fossils - now I'll have to look more closely at my specimens because many seem to have tiny bumps on them, and those bumps just may be ostracods!

 

Thanks for chiming in!

 

Monica

[Monica]

1 hour ago, digit said:

Monica,

 

Thanks for posting your trip report. Can't tell who had more fun--you or Viola (I'm guessing it was a dead heat). Reminds me of the day we spend hunting the Ordovician up at the St. Leon road cut up in Indiana a while back. We don't get material that old down here in South Florida. Glad you both had fun--the mucky mud will probably make that trip all the more memorable for you two. I'm sure you'll both remember that trip fondly whenever you pass by your collection of horn corals be they in a bowl, a jar or displayed in a Riker mount or shadowbox. Glad to see Viola's childhood memories will include great experiences like this and not just attaining some high score on Candy Crush (or whatever game people are playing these days in their devices).

 

It warmed my heart seeing the smile on Viola's face. Your assignment for next trip is to remember the gloves and/or wipes so we can see more photos of Viola pointing to her finds in situ.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Hi Ken!

 

Yes, we really had a fantastic time!!!  Viola loves being outside, so it's usually pretty easy to convince her to do something that involves the outdoors.  And as for Viola's use of technology - it doesn't happen.  My husband and I are not big technology-users, so it's currently pretty easy to keep it away from our kids, but I'm sure one day soon it'll be more difficult to do so.  As a high school teacher, I get to see what happens when students have their own personal device and, in general, I think it hasn't positively influenced their learning, so we're going to try to keep it away from our kids for as long as we can and instead encourage them to read (Viola just started to read on her own in the fall, and she's improving every day!), engage in imaginative play (Viola and her brother (William) are very good at this - it often results in a messy living room, but it's worth it!), and be active outdoors.

 

Thanks for responding to my trip report!  I promise to wear gloves when Viola and I head to Penn Dixie next month so I can take more pictures... 

 

Monica

[Fossil-Hound]

Excellent trip report @Monica I really like the Mucrospirifer you found. I would take @Kane up on his offer. You're almost guaranteed to find a Greenops when you're with him. He's a Greenops magnet and knows where they hide. 

[Monica]

1 minute ago, Fossil-Hound said:

Excellent trip report @Monica I really like the Mucrospirifer you found. I would take @Kane up on his offer. You're almost guaranteed to find a Greenops when you're with him. He's a Greenops magnet and knows where they hide. 

Thanks for responding!  I will most definitely take Kane up on his offer - I already mentioned the prospect of finding complete, large brachiopods to Viola and she's on-board - hopefully we can arrange something in the summer when we're off from school.  If we can find a trilobite, too, then that would be fantastic!!!

 

May the fourth be with you!  (belated )

[Fossil-Hound]

44 minutes ago, Monica said:

Thanks for responding!  I will most definitely take Kane up on his offer - I already mentioned the prospect of finding complete, large brachiopods to Viola and she's on-board - hopefully we can arrange something in the summer when we're off from school.  If we can find a trilobite, too, then that would be fantastic!!!

 

May the fourth be with you!  (belated )

 

May the fourth is a day I'll never forgot. I proposed to my girlfriend on that day and she said yes.  Greenops are more common at Arkona than any other location in the world and they are a highly sought after trilobite and a personal favorite. I just posted a Bellacartwrightia recovered from Penn Dixie that's posted on my wall that is nearly prepared (check it out). These are very rare and look similar to Greenops. @Kane found a Bellacartwrightia at Penn Dixie a few weeks ago and some Greenops. Check out his gallery. When you go with him be prepared to work hard splitting the rock to find the Greenops. His partner Deb just found a complete Greenops last year that was exposed nicely. Also be very careful not to harm any of them as they are fragile. You might end up finding what appears to be a partial Greenops such as a pygidium or cephalon but look closely as sometimes the fossil will be buried in the rock and then you'll need to send the fossil to a trilobite preparer to have the fossil cleaned and exposed. When you find one let me know and I could point you to some folks on TFF who can prepare your specimens. I'm going to U-Dig in a few days and will hopefully find some intact Elrathia or Asaphiscus trilobites from the Cambrian. 

[Malcolmt]

Glad you had a great day at Arkona. I know you were both looking forward to it....

[ynot]

Nice report and finds!!

Sounds like Y'all had a good time!

Congratulations.

Tony

[Monica]

6 hours ago, Malcolmt said:

Glad you had a great day at Arkona. I know you were both looking forward to it....

Hi Malcolm!

 

We did indeed have a great day!  Luckily the field trip was last Saturday and not tomorrow - with all the rain we've gotten over the last couple of days, I imagine it's a VERY muddy place right now (and perhaps even pretty dangerous if the nearby river has risen high enough).  I read your field trip report from last Saturday, too - your trilobite is gorgeous, and I'll bet that your starfish will turn out to be just as beautiful!!!  Perhaps you should submit them for "Fossil of the Month" for May?

 

Monica

[Monica]

3 hours ago, ynot said:

Nice report and finds!!

Sounds like Y'all had a good time!

Congratulations.

Tony

Hi Tony!

 

Good is an understatement - we were in fossil paradise!!!  Of course, many may not agree since we didn't make any unusual finds for the site, but the sheer number of specimens was astounding - we can hardly wait to go back!!!

 

Monica

[Wrangellian]

There is a spot high on the short-list of sites I'd like to visit but probably never will get the chance, so I have to do it vicariously thru people like you who can get there, and via trades, so thanks for going thru the trouble of preparing the report. I like the corals too and would probably not be able to resist picking up every one I could, either, not to mention all the other things (small stuff and epibionts included). That site is loaded - by contrast, I could spend 3 hours looking in one of my local sites and only come home with 4 or 5 keepers.

 

[Monica]

5 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

There is a spot high on the short-list of sites I'd like to visit but probably never will get the chance, so I have to do it vicariously thru people like you who can get there, and via trades, so thanks for going thru the trouble of preparing the report. I like the corals too and would probably not be able to resist picking up every one I could, either, not to mention all the other things (small stuff and epibionts included). That site is loaded - by contrast, I could spend 3 hours looking in one of my local sites and only come home with 4 or 5 keepers.

 

Hi there!

 

I can relate to how you feel about your local site - the place near our home where Viola and I frequent is okay, but we usually don't come away with too many items - typically a few orthoconic nautiloids and perhaps a couple of other things if we're lucky.  Hungry Hollow, on the other hand, is loaded - it really is!!!  We honestly couldn't believe how many rugose corals there were!!!  We are pumped to go back - hopefully sooner rather than later!!!

 

By the way - is there anything from that area that you'd like?  I know you probably have a lot of stuff from there already, but if you're interested in something then just let me know - if I already have it and am not too attached to it then I can send it your way, or if I don't already have it then you can give me a heads-up and I can keep my eyes open for it the next time we head out there...I'm always willing to help out a fellow Canuck   Viola and I area also heading out to Penn Dixie later this month so if there's something that you're interested in that might be found there, then just let me know!

 

Monica

[Wrangellian]

Thanks Monica, I do have some things from there from trades with other members, probably all the common things, and you probably want to keep all the rarer things when you do find them. But I'll send you a list of what I have and if you happen to come across any and can offer spares, let me know. I'll see if I can scrounge up some things from my local site to send you and Viola too, if you'd like, but right now my spares are low. Weather has been crummy, even now in May, so I have only gone up there once this year!

[Monica]

53 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Thanks Monica, I do have some things from there from trades with other members, probably all the common things, and you probably want to keep all the rarer things when you do find them. But I'll send you a list of what I have and if you happen to come across any and can offer spares, let me know. I'll see if I can scrounge up some things from my local site to send you and Viola too, if you'd like, but right now my spares are low. Weather has been crummy, even now in May, so I have only gone up there once this year!

Yes, please do send me a list of what you have from Hungry Hollow - in addition to letting me know what you don't need, it will also help me figure out what I DO need!   I don't know when I'll be going back to Hungry Hollow - I think there might be a couple more "field trips" that will be arranged this year - hopefully Viola and I will be able to tag along.  Oh, and don't forget to add to your list the things you have from Penn Dixie because I may be able to find some things for you there, too - fingers crossed! 

[Wrangellian]

OK!

[Cluros]

Great report. It's nice to see the next generation getting introduced to the hobby in such a good way.

[Monica]

29 minutes ago, Cluros said:

Great report. It's nice to see the next generation getting introduced to the hobby in such a good way.

Thanks for responding!  Viola is very much interested in fossils - in fact, we've organized a fossil-hunting playdate at our local site with Viola's friend from her Sparks (Girl Guides for 5-6 year-olds) group for tomorrow afternoon so long as the weather cooperates - fingers crossed!

[digit]

Take photos and post them.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken