cowsharks Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I got to play host for a day with fellow TFF member "JPC" this past Friday. JP happened to be out on the East coast visiting family during the holidays, and we arranged to meet up at one of my favorite beaches along Calvert Cliffs. Friday turned out to be a great day for collecting, compared to the days earlier in the week when we had lots of rain and wind in the MD/DC area. Temperatures on Friday were a balmy 28 degrees F starting out at 7am, and warmed up to about 40 I think later on that afternoon. With shovels, buckets, and box screens we hit the beach and proceeded on our hunt. Didn't have to explain much to this already seasoned collector; eyes that he usually uses to spy dinsosaur bones in Wyoming were now in shark tooth scanning mode. In fact, within a few minutes JP found the first shark tooth and then a really nice dolphin tooth. A short while later as we were walking and talking, I looked down and saw the outline of a familiar shape; I reached down a plucked out of the sand a beautiful upper cowshark tooth. We proceeded to find a decent assortment of teeth in this one particular stretch of beach were the high tides and rains from earlier in the week caused much of the nearby pile of material to erode away leaving behind several nice fossils. We proceeded all the way to one end of the collecting area, turned around, and proceeded to head back to that area were we were finding the majority of the teeth earlier. It was at that spot that we decided to hunker down and sift. At first we filled 5-gallon buckets full of material, carried them out to the water to the screens, and sifted. After a while the rising tide made it such that we could just shovel the material right into the screens without filling and carrying heavy buckets. One my first screen full of material I found a nice small Chubutensis. Over the next several hours we continued to find teeth and things. Near the end of the afternoon I heard a slight holler from JP and he was holding up a nice Meg. As the day progressed I saw JP's tooth container slowly filling up with all sorts of goodies. I was really happy to see him find as much as he did, especially his first Megs from this location. After 7 hours of collecting we decided we had enough and headed back to our vehicles to change, and then off to Subway to replenish some burned up calories and recount our finds from the day. I really enjoyed meeting JP and hearing stories of his recent T-Rex find and other field trips. It was a real treat to meet such a neat fellow and seasoned collector, especially someone so knowledgeable in an area that I know almost nothing about - Dinosaurs. Below are pics of my finds including the largest tooth of the day found by JP (see pic of darker colored Meg in JP's hand). Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KansasFossilHunter Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Sounds like a fun trip! Nice finds guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakoMeCrazy Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 sounds like a really nice trip. I definitely have to make a summer drive up there and hunt. Those finds are amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Nice haul Daryl. That place is on my short list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Great trip report, man I have been there over a dozen times and never even sniffed a Meg, congratz! "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Great finds Daryl. Karma and hard work pay man. Well done to both you and JPC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Awesome finds. Congrats Daryl and JPC. I may be heading up that way the end of Feb. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfin1974 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 wow, gotta go there........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Thanks folks. Yep, the key was certainly hard work. Although we wouldn't have gone home empty handed if we only surface collected, I would estimate that 75% of my finds came by sifting. Friday's conditions were not the "norm" compared to the last few months; as I mentioned, recent storms and high tides helped wash out a few more fossils in a particular area probably less than 50ft wide. The rest of the collecting area/beach was its usual less than stellar producer. Persistence pays off, whether it is during a single trip, or going back time and time again to eventually have a day like we did. One of the things I mentioned to JP as we were collecting was how neat it is that on a good day like we had, one can find almost "one of everything", meaning, several species of sharks teeth, along with a dolphin/porpoise tooth, some whale/dolphin verts, stingray teeth and barbs, turtle shell pieces, etc. Days like that the variety is great, and most other days you're lucky to go home with a few common little teeth. Regardless of what or how much I find, I always have fun and am greatful for just being able to go out collecting. Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachj Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 great meg and chub! one day i will find a tooth over 3 inches in good conditon haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 my kinda hunt! love the quality Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinopaleus Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I got to play host for a day with fellow TFF member "JPC" this past Friday. JP happened to be out on the East coast visiting family during the holidays, and we arranged to meet up at one of my favorite beaches along Calvert Cliffs. Friday turned out to be a great day for collecting, compared to the days earlier in the week when we had lots of rain and wind in the MD/DC area. Temperatures on Friday were a balmy 28 degrees F starting out at 7am, and warmed up to about 40 I think later on that afternoon. With shovels, buckets, and box screens we hit the beach and proceeded on our hunt. Didn't have to explain much to this already seasoned collector; eyes that he usually uses to spy dinsosaur bones in Wyoming were now in shark tooth scanning mode. In fact, within a few minutes JP found the first shark tooth and then a really nice dolphin tooth. A short while later as we were walking and talking, I looked down and saw the outline of a familiar shape; I reached down a plucked out of the sand a beautiful upper cowshark tooth. We proceeded to find a decent assortment of teeth in this one particular stretch of beach were the high tides and rains from earlier in the week caused much of the nearby pile of material to erode away leaving behind several nice fossils. We proceeded all the way to one end of the collecting area, turned around, and proceeded to head back to that area were we were finding the majority of the teeth earlier. It was at that spot that we decided to hunker down and sift. At first we filled 5-gallon buckets full of material, carried them out to the water to the screens, and sifted. After a while the rising tide made it such that we could just shovel the material right into the screens without filling and carrying heavy buckets. One my first screen full of material I found a nice small Chubutensis. Over the next several hours we continued to find teeth and things. Near the end of the afternoon I heard a slight holler from JP and he was holding up a nice Meg. As the day progressed I saw JP's tooth container slowly filling up with all sorts of goodies. I was really happy to see him find as much as he did, especially his first Megs from this location. After 7 hours of collecting we decided we had enough and headed back to our vehicles to change, and then off to Subway to replenish some burned up calories and recount our finds from the day. I really enjoyed meeting JP and hearing stories of his recent T-Rex find and other field trips. It was a real treat to meet such a neat fellow and seasoned collector, especially someone so knowledgeable in an area that I know almost nothing about - Dinosaurs. Below are pics of my finds including the largest tooth of the day found by JP (see pic of darker colored Meg in JP's hand). Daryl. Awesome finds! Makes my finds from the cliffs look like scrap... Great meg too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taffie Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Wow!! Congratulations!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 NIce report, cowsharks. Yes, I had a great time fossiling and hanging out with cowsharks. We also ran into a few other collectors, two of whom had found nice whale verts, which we didn't find. (Not complaining, just adding to the fun list of stuff that is out there). We did put in a long day starting at sunrise. I have pix, but will wait to post them as I am not home yet... still enjoying the holidays, but now I am in Colorado. The meg that is posted in the pix above was really cool to find. As yes, as cowsharks said... I did give a bit of a yelp of joy. Can't remember if I actually did the happy Fossil Dance so I'll do it here and now... The day before I also went to the Smithsonian. Great fossils there. Then I went to visit one of our moderators at his store; I went to auspex's store... he sells birdwatching things... books, binocs, feeders, gifts, cards, all bird themed. It was great to meet him too. We chatted about birds and fossil birds for an hour and half before I half to head back to my bro's place. Turns out we have a lot in common. I got to meet two good folks form this forum in two days. Nice to meet you guys, and thanks for all. Happy New Year Y'all jpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDOTB Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Wow looks like a good trip! You all did good! DO, or do not. There is no try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masonboro37 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Awesome trip! The teeth are outstanding, thanks for sharing and great report! Process of identification "mistakes create wisdom". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Fossil Hound Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 That is a great story! Glad you both had such a good variety of finds. (Love the Cowshark tooth and Meg!) Jon "Silence is Golden, but duct tape is Silver." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 That is a great story! Glad you both had such a good variety of finds. (Love the Cowshark tooth and Meg!) Jon Thanks. I told JP that he probably got spoiled that day because in general, most collecting days don't yield as much as we found that day, let alone both of us finding one or more Megs. I was glad that he was able to find as much as he did - I hate for "visitors" from out of town to go home empty handed. If I was taking some kids down there I would have had some teeth in my pocket for "seeding the beach" if needed. But the day we went, that sort of thing wasn't necessary. Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) Dang, so you planted that meg 6 inches deep in the gravel! You must have been there well before sunrise. Here is the beautiful sunrise that greeted Daryl and me... looking out onto Chesapeake Bay. Spot the dolphin vertebra: My own field photo of my meg is terribly out of focus, but here it is. Here are some highlights of non-tooth fossils. And my tooth collection for the day... I didn't do the artistic set-up Daryl did, but then he has been setting up shark teeth for many years. Broken teeth are on the bottom left side. There is one thing in there left of the big tooth that loks like a broken cowshark, but I think it is actually some weird bone bit. To the right of the bottom meg are two ray teeth. the smaller one is actually a modern one. Daryl found one too (and he rarely does) and suspects that an eagle ray must be decomposing offshore somewhere. Tpo left is a turle plate and two shark vertebrae. Here is my cute little dolphin tooth. ONe of my favorite finds of the day. Lastly here is a view from the plane ... somewhere east of denve. I often think I should bring a DeLorme atlas with me when I fly out of Denver, there is so much potentially good-looking badlands out there. Of course, nowadays, there is GoogleEarth. Happy New Year, Ya'll. Edited January 4, 2013 by jpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowsharks Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 JP, looks like you found a nice assortment of stuff. Glad the weather and collecting turned out better than I had anticipated. That's a real neat photo from the plane. take care, Daryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyce Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 You guys made some awesome finds!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now