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Yesterday (January 2nd) was only my second trip to Calvert Cliffs. I'm pretty new to fossil collecting, but thanks to the wonderful advice and reading the greatly informative posts from members such as @Darktooth @FossilsAnonymous @WhodamanHD @racerzeke @KimTexan and @paxhunter I had a lot of success and it was a much more productive trip than my first. Below is a brief summary and some pictures of what I found:

 

I woke up, put on a few layers clothing, and had my coffee at 3:45am. After my morning pipe (tobacco...I actually make briar tobacco pipes as a hobby) I got in my pre-loaded truck and headed south at 4:45am. I made good time on the drive down as I hit 695 and got around Baltimore before the morning rush. At 7:10am I arrived at Brownies Beach and pulled in to a parking lot with only two other cars in it. After putting on my full waders, I grabbed my sifter and headed towards the beach. I planned this trip so that I could arrive midweek and get there early enough to catch some of the low tide (tides times were not friendly this week, but I start teaching classes next week so it was this week or wait until spring). Sunrise was at 7:24, but there was more than enough light to see...and what a sight it was. When I entered the beach area the tide was way, way out. I couldn't believe how far out it was, as it was past two small sandbars (if I get my GoPro video edited I will post it). 

 

Once I was on the beach I headed south towards the cliffs. I hurried through the beach area because I wanted to be by the cliffs with the tide so low. I know I missed teeth along the beach, but I wanted to get to the cliffs with the tide being so far out where I could hopefully find some larger teeth than what are common at the beach area. As I neared the end of the beach I ran into one woman who was there just to relax and walk on the beach. We said good morning and I knew who one of the two cars in the parking lot belonged to. 

 

Once I went around the point and turned my eyes close to shell line and started looking. Because of all the wonderful advice from this forum I had a much better idea of what I was looking for and how to best look. After a few minutes I had some ray plates, very small teeth, and my first ever vert. It wasn't even 7:30 and I knew it was going to be a good day. As I made my way down the shore line that I figured had been pretty well picked over from people being off over the holidays, I remembered a forum member saying 'you need to look in the places that others don't'. I approached a fallen tree that I remembered from my first trip a few weeks ago, and with the tide being so low almost the entire tree was exposed so I got down on my hands and knees and started looking at some of the gaps between the tree and sand...then it happened. You know when you day dream and picture yourself finding a great tooth or fossil? Well that's what happened as my eyes saw a pristine Mako just laying there (pictures below). I know its not a huge tooth or a meg, but to me being new to the hobby this was completely awesome and a trip maker. I think I still have a smile on my face from finding it. 

 

As I continued down the beach I collected many more teeth from various sharks. I couldn't believe it when I found an awesome cow shark tooth (my second trip maker) laying out in the open about 8 feet up the beach. Beside it was another good tooth as well that went in my pouch. Around 10:30 I ran into a very friendly gentleman and we chatted a bit. We talked about the weather and the cliffs, what he had found (a few hemis), and he told me a story of a fall he had witnessed a few years ago that was too close for comfort. A chunk of clay the size of a car fell and nearly crushed him, but luckily he heard some soil falling and he ran straight out into the bay right before the cliff fell. Although the clay chunk did't hit him, the water threw him up into the air when the clay hit. His friend who was a down the cliffs said he heard it and it sounded like a car crash....I didn't get this gentleman's name but I feel like I read his cliff fall story on here, so if you know who it may have been please let me know.

 

I continued south until the tide started coming in pretty far and I thought it best to head back towards the beach since I didn't know how far it would come in or how high the water would get. I continued my search along the way back and made it to my truck around 2pm. I took a short break, ditched my sifter, texted my wife, checked email, watched a truck with two high school kids pull in to smoke a pipe (although this one wasn't filled with tobacco), and headed back out for one more quick trip down and back as the tide started to go back out. It wasn't until about 3:30pm when two more local fossil collectors came up behind me and we said hello and chatted. All in all, I only ran into 3 other collectors during the day so there was not a lot of competition (although I do like the interesting conversation). After finding a few more teeth and interesting fossils dusk approached and I headed back to my truck. After putting my gear away and changing into some dry clothes I started my trek north after a fantastic start to 2019. Below are some pictures of my finds from the day. I know what many of the teeth and other fossils are, but if you can ID something that a newbie like me probably wouldn't know then please do so as it will help me get better with this hobby. Thanks!

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Here are some others from when I got home and dried them out. You'll see one with a pic of a broken that would have been a monster.

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You got some realy nice teeth there. Nice report :)

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growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.

 

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You were doing good, congrats!

And nice report and pics too, thanks for sharing!

 

I especially like this one:

2 hours ago, ShoreThing said:

20190103_140747.jpg

Franz Bernhard

 

 

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Congrats, particularly on that cow shark. I still dream of finding a complete one over here, but so far I've only been able to scratch out pieces. One of these days I hope to go for a walk down the eastern sea board.

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Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Awesome cow! I’m glad it worked out well for ya!

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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@ShoreThing thanks for the tag. Looks like you were having all of the luck yesterday. While it is true your mako is not a huge tooth, it is in perfect condition. It seems like nice cows have been showing up at brownies recently. Looks like a couple of shark verts there too. Can’t wait for the go pro vid and now you’ve got me wanting to go out... (have to wait until tomorrow)

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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55 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Congrats, particularly on that cow shark. I still dream of finding a complete one over here, but so far I've only been able to scratch out pieces. One of these days I hope to go for a walk down the eastern sea board.

If you ever decide to we’ll welcome you for sure :)

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Beautiful cow! That's one of the largest I've seen!

 

The mako is a great find as well! I totally understand that feeling when you find a mako! The first time I found one, I swear I couldn't stop grinning! Yours is a beautiful tooth!

 

Congratulations on a wonderfully successful hunt!

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I’m going down to Purse tomorrow, will post pics.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Nice report!  Thanks for posting. 

Thanks for the in-situ pictures. 

Glad you were able to get out there. 

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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Interesting reading and good photos with some pretty nice finds as well. :)

Thanks for sharing this. 

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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Nice finds.  Love the cow and mako.  Btw... for reference in terms of how low can it go on the best blowout tides you can walk high and dry around the two rip rap sections about 3/4 of a mile to the south.  You'll then hit a small 75 to 100 yardish beach that can be productive.  It almost never gets exposed to the gravel  (maybe once or twice a year) so on the right day it usually held a meg or something unique for me.  It's a rare day when the tide gets that low though and if you ain't first on that section of beach you're last.

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Beautiful finds and great report! Even though they are typically small finding a nice cow shark beats finding larger other species. That Mako is beautiful and it's awesome that you were able to find it in a unique spot. Sometimes it's hard to imagine finding a tooth somewhere unless you actually find it in a spot like that.

 

Glad you're hooked and hope to see many more reports in the future! :meg:

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@ShoreThing Congratulations on a great hunt! I am glad to see you had a good time. Even for as many times that I have been to Calvert Cliffs and for all the great things that I have found, that is a haul that would of satisfied me. My first great tooth that I found was also a nice pristine mako. I was just as happy as if I found a meg. As others have said, that cowshark is nice, as well as the shark verts.:meg::dinothumb:

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Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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Thanks for all the love guys and gals! Sorry it has been a minute since I was able to log on here. The semester starts tomorrow and over the weekend I needed to focus on prepping for my classes so that my students get the education they deserve starting on day one. I can't wait to get out to the cliffs again and hopefully I can find some other great teeth. This hobby really has me hooked and I love learning so much from your comments and being a 'lurker' on the awesome posts on this forum. I hope 2019 bring you all the fossils of your dreams!

On 1/4/2019 at 3:41 AM, smt126 said:

Quite the finds for one day out there. I can't wait to hit the Chesapeake in august

 

On 1/4/2019 at 4:05 AM, Manticocerasman said:

You got some realy nice teeth there. Nice report :)

 

On 1/4/2019 at 4:42 AM, FranzBernhard said:

You were doing good, congrats!

And nice report and pics too, thanks for sharing!

 

I especially like this one:

Franz Bernhard

 

 

 

On 1/4/2019 at 5:19 AM, Ludwigia said:

Congrats, particularly on that cow shark. I still dream of finding a complete one over here, but so far I've only been able to scratch out pieces. One of these days I hope to go for a walk down the eastern sea board.

 

On 1/4/2019 at 6:09 AM, WhodamanHD said:

Awesome cow! I’m glad it worked out well for ya!

 

On 1/4/2019 at 6:14 AM, FossilsAnonymous said:

@ShoreThing thanks for the tag. Looks like you were having all of the luck yesterday. While it is true your mako is not a huge tooth, it is in perfect condition. It seems like nice cows have been showing up at brownies recently. Looks like a couple of shark verts there too. Can’t wait for the go pro vid and now you’ve got me wanting to go out... (have to wait until tomorrow)

 

On 1/4/2019 at 6:54 AM, Littlefoot said:

Beautiful cow! That's one of the largest I've seen!

 

The mako is a great find as well! I totally understand that feeling when you find a mako! The first time I found one, I swear I couldn't stop grinning! Yours is a beautiful tooth!

 

Congratulations on a wonderfully successful hunt!

 

On 1/4/2019 at 7:20 AM, Fossildude19 said:

Nice report!  Thanks for posting. 

Thanks for the in-situ pictures. 

Glad you were able to get out there. 

 

On 1/4/2019 at 7:28 AM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Interesting reading and good photos with some pretty nice finds as well. :)

Thanks for sharing this. 

 

On 1/4/2019 at 8:10 AM, masonboro37 said:

Great report and finds! 

 

On 1/4/2019 at 8:13 AM, Al Tahan said:

Nice finds!!! That place is on my bucket list 

 

On 1/4/2019 at 9:10 AM, hokiehunter said:

Nice finds.  Love the cow and mako.  Btw... for reference in terms of how low can it go on the best blowout tides you can walk high and dry around the two rip rap sections about 3/4 of a mile to the south.  You'll then hit a small 75 to 100 yardish beach that can be productive.  It almost never gets exposed to the gravel  (maybe once or twice a year) so on the right day it usually held a meg or something unique for me.  It's a rare day when the tide gets that low though and if you ain't first on that section of beach you're last.

 

On 1/4/2019 at 10:14 AM, racerzeke said:

Beautiful finds and great report! Even though they are typically small finding a nice cow shark beats finding larger other species. That Mako is beautiful and it's awesome that you were able to find it in a unique spot. Sometimes it's hard to imagine finding a tooth somewhere unless you actually find it in a spot like that.

 

Glad you're hooked and hope to see many more reports in the future! :meg:

 

On 1/4/2019 at 4:56 PM, Darktooth said:

@ShoreThing Congratulations on a great hunt! I am glad to see you had a good time. Even for as many times that I have been to Calvert Cliffs and for all the great things that I have found, that is a haul that would of satisfied me. My first great tooth that I found was also a nice pristine mako. I was just as happy as if I found a meg. As others have said, that cowshark is nice, as well as the shark verts.:meg::dinothumb:

 

On 1/4/2019 at 11:59 PM, Nimravis said:

Some really nice finds and I really like the pics- we can never get enough.

 

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On 1/4/2019 at 9:10 AM, hokiehunter said:

Nice finds.  Love the cow and mako.  Btw... for reference in terms of how low can it go on the best blowout tides you can walk high and dry around the two rip rap sections about 3/4 of a mile to the south.  You'll then hit a small 75 to 100 yardish beach that can be productive.  It almost never gets exposed to the gravel  (maybe once or twice a year) so on the right day it usually held a meg or something unique for me.  It's a rare day when the tide gets that low though and if you ain't first on that section of beach you're last.

I think I know the beach you are talking about...is it the one that once you hit it, you can see the first dock a bit further down? If so, that has been my turning around point as I usually get there when the tide is coming in and I think it best head back with some time to search along the way.

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No.  It is farther down than that.  You literally can't go any farther than this beach without a kayak because the rip rap wall starts on the southern end of it and extends down for well over a mile.  Like I said, only gets exposed on the best blowouts.  If it ain't blowing 30 to 40+ for a day or so down the bay the path down to it is 4 or 5+ feet deep in spots.  Even in a "good" blowout you still might find a few spots you have to wade in a foot or more of water to get around.  Sand deposits are constantly changing so it just really depends but the beach is there (or was) on a good day 10 or so years ago.  What is exposed sand or gravel one day is often gone the next though and this area particularly due to the rip rap messing up the flow of sand.

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excellent finds! Especially liked the cow shark (as most people have noted).

 

@hokiehunter Not sure if you meant it, but I liked the Talladega Nights reference. That movies does not get enough love.

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On 1/7/2019 at 4:07 PM, JMUFossil said:

excellent finds! Especially liked the cow shark (as most people have noted).

 

@hokiehunter Not sure if you meant it, but I liked the Talladega Nights reference. That movies does not get enough love.

Thanks. I was very pleased for being very new to this hobby...and an addictive one for sure! On another note, are you a JMU alum? If so, I went a smidgen further down 81 to Bridgewater, while my brother decided he was going to be a Duke. 

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Congrats! That's quite the haul for Brownies, not to mention being new to collecting as well. You seem to have a knack for it. That mako is an absolute gem for a public location. You did very well!

The Hunt for the Hemipristine continues!

~Hoppe hunting!~

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