New York Catskills Trip

[deutscheben]

Fascinating fossils found in a lovely setting, and a spirit of exploration and discovery, it sounds like a great trip to me! Thank you for sharing. 

[Pagurus]

On 8/30/2018 at 5:21 AM, Tidgy's Dad said:

There's a strange old man in my mirror too, it's a common problem, it seems. 

I think that last picture might be a tabulate coral like Aulopora.

 

Thank you, Adam, for pointing out that the tube-like structures are a tabulate coral. I hadn't really looked closely at them. I appreciate your taking the time to ID them for me.

 

On 9/4/2018 at 8:49 PM, Darktooth said:

@Pagurus that's a neat find Mike. Sorry to hear about the car trouble shortening your trip. I was in the Catskills on Saturday, doing some fly fishing. I didn't have much luck. Only caught a creek chub. But the area was absolutely beautiful. I did have a brown trout on my line for a few seconds, then it shook free.

 

We saw quite a few people fishing in those beautiful streams, Dave. They're hard to resist. I'm glad you had a chance to get out there. I'm guessing you were fly fishing. A friend introduced me to fly fishing last year but all I caught was my own ear. I think I'll stick to my spinning reel, though I appreciate the skill you fly fishermen have.

 

On 9/7/2018 at 11:35 PM, ynot said:

 

Thanks, Tony. 

 

On 9/8/2018 at 4:53 AM, FranzBernhard said:

What a nice landscape, such beautyfull creeks, perfect wheater and even some fossils! Everything you want. Thanks for sharing!

Franz Bernhard

 

Thank you, Franz. That beautiful landscape offers itself to us all. I'm happy you enjoyed it.

 

On 9/8/2018 at 7:40 AM, Scylla said:

I can confirm that as a Triarthrus cephalon. I have collected them from the Utica Shale in that area. I think the graptolites are Geniculograptus (formerly Climacograptus). ...

 

Thanks for the ID's and for your post of the fossil you found near Rome. 

 

On 9/9/2018 at 9:05 AM, Fossildude19 said:

Great report, Mike. 
Glad you were able to get out there.  

 

Thanks, Tim. It's time for me to start looking for another car, but we were able to push this one (not literally, thank goodness) a little further. Leila and I had an enjoyable getaway.

 

23 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

I wouldn't be at all disappointed with the Sphenothallus ID.  Yours is the best specimen I've seen, and the attachment to  nautiloid tells a story one rarely glimpses with these fossils. Thanks for your travelogue as well.  The Catskills are beautiful and it's great to be reminded of that. Don

 

Thanks for identifying it, Don. I've already got it in a riker mount and I'm proud to display it. Yes, the Catskills are beautiful. It's easy to take our beautiful world for granted sometimes. Even when I was out there in those gorgeous streams I often forgot to look up and soak it all in. When I looked at my photos I was reminded just how beautiful it was.

 

21 hours ago, KimTexan said:

... I thoroughly enjoyed your trip report! The scenery was beautiful. Relaxed pace trips to peaceful, beautiful green setting are my favorite types of trips. I liked the little chipmunk. We don’t have those down here.  I love to hunt in creeks. The creeks in my immediate area of Texas are not usually so green and they’re more often muddy, silt filled with fewer rocks. I like your writing style and your presentation of the sites and your finds. It was enjoyable and relaxing to read. Thanks for sharing it with us. Kim

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post, Kim. It's hard not to share that beautiful scenery, and I enjoyed writing about it.

 

20 hours ago, jdp said:

That was my thought. We used to find these on cephalopods all the time in the Bear Gulch LS.

 

That's interesting to hear. Thanks. The interaction between the species has captured my imagination. Were these cephalopods living when the Sphenothallus (Sphenothalli?) attached to them? Any thoughts?

 

2 hours ago, deutscheben said:

Fascinating fossils found in a lovely setting, and a spirit of exploration and discovery, it sounds like a great trip to me! Thank you for sharing. 

 

Thank you for reading. A great trip it was.

 

[Wrangellian]

My first thought was Sphenothallus too, but as usual everyone and their dog got in on it before I stumbled across this topic!

Was going to compliment your on your finds before I saw that piece, but wow! I get all drooly about stuff like that the way most people do about dino and shark teeth. I'm sure it would fit into any museum's collection. They'd be stupid to turn it down if you were to offer it.

Have never seen fossil tree stumps from the Middle Devonian - I would have thought something like that would be too special to leave out in the open (weather). Any kind of recognizable plant material from before the Pennsylvanian is a keeper!

[Monica]

Beautiful finds, Mike!  I especially like the graptolites - I'm still looking to find a well-preserved one from my local areas - hopefully I'll find one as nice as yours!