Hiking Out Back

[Kane]

As the missus is at work, I couldn't secure a ride to kickboxing training, and I don't have any assignments to grade (yet), why waste a perfectly lovely morning? So out I hiked to the area just beyond my backyard to poke around in the spoil hills.

 

As I've pretty much picked the place clean, my expectations were low enough that I didn't think I'd come away with anything - which was fine as I would be surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. The spoils were laid down over a dozen years ago, and nothing all that new gets exposed over time; rather, sand and sticky mud that bakes hard covers more rock, or weeds and saplings extend their territory.

 

I didn't come away with anything spectacular. Apart from a fragment of a very rare trilobite in these parts, this year has been a bit of a bust at this site. Mixed with construction debris are plenty of lower and middle Devonian limestones and sandstones, many of those that have no reliable bedding planes, or are just filled with tiny brachiopods, some bryozoa, bivalves, etc. There are virtually no trilobites left, apart from tiny fragments here and there.

 

But I did find some ok stuff to take back with me. First up would be these relatively large brachs. I don't usually encounter big brachs in Devonian rocks:

[Kane]

I'm not one to pick up brachs usually, unless they look interesting, large, or both. In one rock, these just popped right out, double-valved. 

[Kane]

The only fragment of trilobite I found: pygidium of an Eldredgeops. They don't preserve very well in this kind of rock, sadly.

[Kane]

One of the areas I work in that surrounds a pond. Temperatures were beginning to get sticky in the upper 30s with humidity, so eventually I had to call it a day. In order to find more of the fossiliferous rock, given that mother nature is not exposing more for me, it means digging in a bit more in the hopes of finding the right type.

[Kane]

But being surrounded by nature was the real delight. Monarch butterflies, bees, damselflies, dragonflies, toads, inch-worms, cabbage white moths, etc. Here is a very prolific type of burdock. When these go brown, I can't tell you how many of these I pick out of my shoelaces!

[Kane]

In-flight refuelling.  

 

In all, a nice little hike and dig this morning. 

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Wow. You've got a fossil site in your own backyard...? Very neat, thanks for sharing

-Christian

[Tidgy's Dad]

"Not one to pick up brachs" ? ? ? 

Some of those are very nice indeed.

I love the nature photos, too. 

[Kane]

Thanks! The area is a bit of a walk, but has treated me kindly in the past.

 

I might not have picked these up (the place is somewhat littered with them) if I didn't think it would make Adam squeal in delight if I posted them here.  There are quite a few thick-lipped Leptaena around this spot as well. The double-valved ones come out quite robust and solid, and in some cases there isn't too much transfer of shell surface to the negative -- those are worth pocketing!

[Tidgy's Dad]

28 minutes ago, Kane said:

Thanks! The area is a bit of a walk, but has treated me kindly in the past.

 

I might not have picked these up (the place is somewhat littered with them) if I didn't think it would make Adam squeal in delight if I posted them here.  There are quite a few thick-lipped Leptaena around this spot as well. The double-valved ones come out quite robust and solid, and in some cases there isn't too much transfer of shell surface to the negative -- those are worth pocketing!

Indeed.

Squeal.

[belemniten]

Nice finds and thanks for the beautiful pictures @Kane   

[Innocentx]

Nice brachs!! and nice place to be.  

[TheRealWiwaxia]

Neat finds, big ol' brachs.

[caldigger]

I like the smells of nature also, so long as it isn't  a cow pasture. 

[Dan 1000]

Nice finds and beautiful dragonflies 

[Monica]

Nice double-valved brachiopods, Kane - I wish I could find stuff like that in my local creeks!

[ynot]

Lucky You.

Even if You did not find any good trilobites, got some nice fossils.

[Nimravis]

Great report Kane and I knew @Tidgy's Dad would jump on this when you mentioned the Brach’s.